Changes
by TwlightMystery
Summary: AU fic Naruto GetBackers KingdomHearts Xover!Pairings SasuNaru BanGin RikuSora & more. Naruto stared in horror as his reflection grinned back at him...You belong to this house it whispered...Full Summary inside
1. Prologue

**IMPORTANT A.N.! - I REVISED THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS YET AGAIN DUE TO A SERIOUS PLOT CHANGE ON MY BEHALF. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RE-READ THEN SKIM THEM OTHERWISE SOME THINGS IN FUTURE CHAPTERS WILL SEEM VERY DISJOINTED!**

_**Warnings**_: Seriously read at your own discretion please this story is not meant for kids or the immature. Flames are not welcomed only constructive criticism. Also, yaoi warning is in effect along with language (and possible lime later on if I feel brave enough).

_**Summary**_: Ban and Sasuke are step brothers not to mention leaders of the notorious Shimagara no Hebi gang along with Riku and Shido. Naruto and Ginji are brothers, but also your classical nerd duo (despite having brothers like Sora and Kazuki), who has no recollection of their mysterious past... Half way through the school year strange things start happening, things beyond their control... Ginji fearing for their sanity was running out of options quickly...that is...until they were invited to a school that has been kept secret for decades. The school was for the gifted... In a high school where the _Shimagara no Hebi _rules all, what happens when the leaders take a sudden interest in the school rejects?

Why is it that the very walls that encase the school seem to slowly start to come alive all on its own? Why do the hallways seem to whisper tales of screaming death and tears of blood that can never be washed away? When you're all alone why does death seep from ever corner crack and crevice? Hehehe You have never seen a story like this before...

_**Main Pairings**_: SasuNaru BanGin RikuSora

Minor Pairings: KakaIru LeonCloud ShidoKazuki (I'll be taking polls during the story so you pick who you'd like to see who with k?)

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts, GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot. It is a hundred percent **ORIGINAL! **Please do not steal my plot or story for that matter**.** If you see someone else using it please tell me! Arigatou.

_**Age**_:

Ban- 19

Sasuke- 18

Ginji- 18

Naruto- 17

Riku- 17

Sora- 16

Kazuki- 16

Shido- 18

Thoughts 'blah'

Speaking "blah"

Scene change_

* * *

Prologue

(**Pov Ban**)

Let it not be unknown that Midou Ban wasn't a very happy person right now… no…. he was downright pissed. The reason was fairly simple too, that damn teacher gave him detention again! Can you believe it? The nerve of that damn Paul sensei was astounding! One of the schools fuckin' geniuses not to mention the notorious Shimagara No Hebi gang leader, and he had the audacity to give him detention?

A pure look of irritation painted Ban's face, a look he had perfected well over the years.

'_Oh well'_ he smirked. _'It not like it wasn't well earned, even if it wasn't my fault entirely', _his thought's trailed off to earlier in the day.

* * *

_Flashback_

Midou Ban was one the school's heartthrobs... well along with his brothers and less than a handful more anyway. With his icy cobalt blue eyes, smooth flawless pale milky skin, and sharp facial features he could make any girl faint on their feet. His stylized chocolate long spikes for hair only added to that dangerous sex appeal he had. While standing at a height of 6'2 his slim but muscular body made girls drool and boys' envious. His brother, (it never really occurred to him to address him with the title 'step' in front of it for they had a bond that ran deeper than that of normal brothers...) was equally if not more sought after.

Uchiha Sasuke, the boy was as beautiful as his name. Sasuke had pale creamy skin just slightly more so than Ban did, and dark obsidian eyes… or so it seemed. In reality his eyes were a beautiful slate grey color, but the boy was much too broody, therefore his eyes were always dark and clouded over. On very rare occasion would you see him relaxed and generally content. Sasuke's face was gently pointed and slightly feminine looking, framed by inky locks so dark they shown blue. The raven stood at a height of 6ft just two inches shorter than his brother. His build was very similar but just a bit slimmer, where as his brother's movements were precise and demanded respect Sasuke's, were more graceful and cat like.

Ban sighed and looked out the window for the umpteenth time, a habit he picked up from the schools notorious lazy ass Shikamaru.

The forest was as green as ever and sat perfectly undisturbed as the metaphorical calm before the storm. He quirked an eyebrow as a weird sensation passed through him. To fast to decipher, but to slow to fully ignore, he frowned at the oddity of it all.

He then glanced about the room to see who the hell even bothered to show up to English first band (period) anyway. Most of the student's hadn't arrived yet and of the one's already there, half of them were asleep.

Ban took the time to study the room they were in. They were currently in the gold room; a very large and intimidating place, but grand in its beauty none the less. The ceiling was of one that depicted small angels. There was a large fireplace as well as a mirror along one wall and large French windows alongside another. (**1**) The gold trimmed banners and pillars seemed to finish the room off. The rooms were never touched, merely cleaned to preserve the original beauty of the 1,200 year old castle like manor. The founders of Seraphim Manor were the legendary Sannin siblings, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.

It wasn't written in any text book, because it was a mere myth, and myths could never be proven. However this one never seemed to get old. The story goes that manor was built to house and raise three very special children. One of which was said to have died a few days after birth. But the home suffered even more devastation through a fatal tragedy during the revolutionary period. There was a revolt and the Sannins' simply disappeared while the two remaining children were brutally slaughtered...or so the story goes.

No one ever found out what happened to the three founders, they just seemed to simply vanish during the revolt. Ban personally didn't think that story made any sense.

A silent silver haired beauty then poked him in the side trying to gain his attention while bringing him out of his quite musings.

Arashi Riku (2) was the second most important member in the Hebi's group. He was right alongside Fuyuki Shido in status, after Ban and Sasuke who of course founded the group. Not only were the boys strong and gifted but they were also their best friends com brothers.

Needless to say, with Riku's silvery white hair, fine chiseled body and Aqua blue-green eyes he effortlessly gained the title of school heartthrob. And with Shido's cat slit steel gray eyes, long ebony bangs, and tall built body he wasn't to far behind the others. Hey you know what they say beautiful people tend to keep the company of other beautiful people...or some crap like that.

"Did you hear?" Riku asked with his small trademark smirk on his face breaking the silence of the tired atmosphere.

"Hear what?" Ino all but purred slipping into her boyfriend Ban's lap.

Ban sighed once again. Ino was a sweet girl when time called for it but other than that she could be rather loud, bossy, arrogant, vain, tiresome, and the list went on and on and on... One had to wonder if it was really worth the trouble sometimes.

Shido grinned and drawled, "Fresh meat."

"You're going to have to translate that from idiot to English for me," was Ban's smooth reply. Ino couldn't refrain herself from giggling, "Now, now Ban kun play nice"

Even though Shido and Ban pretended not to get along everyone else knew better. Arguing was just for show to keep the things interesting every once in a while. If you managed to get on one of their bad sides then you got on the other ones bad side by default because they were pretty protective of their family. The same went for everyone else; there were very few exceptions to that rule.

Sasuke apparently following along with the conversation, then lifted his head from his folded arms on the desk to give his older brother an exasperated look. These were among the only few people who were blessed enough to see Uchiha Sasuke show any type of emotion. The select few others were close friends as well as followers. Ino blushed prettily. Even though she had snagged the attention of one of the brothers she unfortunately snagged the attention of the wrong one. But that may or may not be because Midou Ban was a damn pervert.

A deep rich smooth baritone voice that belonged to the one Uchiha replied, "A bunch of stuck up asses from the rich prep school Mystic embers is transferring here tomorrow."

Then as an afterthought he added "They won't survive till the week's end." A bored expression settled on his face.

Now it wasn't that Ban or his crew had a problem with rich people... no that would be very hypocritical... considering that he and Sasuke were more than a little well off. K scratch that they were filthy bloody rich but did they flaunt it? Nnooo.

They had enough stalkers as it was already. They didn't need fan girls and boys (there were surprisingly quite a few of them) camping on the lawn of their mansion god forbid if they should decide to ever own one! The company they owned was hard enough to run trying to remain anonymous. Thankfully Riku and Shido were more than willing to help. And they were damn good at their jobs to, working for the Ceo's and all.

Nope, instead they decided to own a pen house in the city a good hour away from school, for when it wasn't necessary to stay on site. The Seraphim Manor was well hidden in the countryside and was nearly impossible to find if you weren't looking for it despite the expansiveness of it. Sasuke, Ban, and Riku had been together longer than any of them had cared to remember. Shido was more or less a 'new' recruit. Sasuke and Ban shared the master bedroom while Shido and Riku lived in the two spares. The boys had an unbreakable tie to one another.

Seraphim was a private school of another sort that was ran by gangs not the teachers. And of those gangs Shimagara no Hebi took the cake and was feared and respected by all but also challenged by few.

Ban's thoughts were snapped back to the present as his youngest silver haired brother gently prodded him. _'Hmm things might get a little interesting...'_

"How many?" Ban drawled.

"…'bout four or five, with a couple of teachers, can't remember exactly how many." Riku said with a thoughtful look on his face. Then as if physically feeling the stare on him, he turned to face a blushing admirer that he found looking his way. He offered her a small smile and she completely melted.

Shido deadpanned at the sight before him. _'Luck bastard doesn't even have to try!'_

"Think we should lay out some ground rules for them?" Shido asked suddenly with a mischievous smile on his face doing his best to ignore Riku and his nonexistent attempt at flirting. Poor Shido was totally oblivious to the fact that he could do the same thing if he only bothered to try. It still sometimes amazed the others how completely unaware of his own looks Shido could be. To damned humble if you asked them.

Just then Sakura came prancing up to them and seated herself on Sasuke's lap much like Ino had done earlier with Ban. The aforementioned girl then scowled deeply at the pink haired hindrance, and in return received a smirk. The little exchange didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

Ino and Sakura had been best friends since they were in diapers but had been fighting over Sasuke ever since they laid eyes on him. The bickering had died down when Sasuke had reluctantly chosen Sakura but he didn't seem comfortable with the relationship at all. Sasuke had once confessed to him, Shido, and Riku that he saw her more as a friend than anything else. Hence the reason that the relationship never left first base. Hell Sasuke wasn't even sure that they'd even made it onto the field yet.

As she settled herself in his arms she asked in an all too sugary voice "Lay out some ground rules for who?"

Shido looked at her with distaste. It was blatantly obvious that Shido neither liked Sakura nor Ino. He was about to tell her to mind her own business in his own way... a much more politer way... In that same all too sugary voice he would say...

"Mind your own fuckin' goddamn business." Ban smirked as Shido did a reenactment of the play in his head, while Sakura silently fumed. She didn't know what Shido's problem was. He was almost another person entirely when he was dealing with her. She knew, she _knew _how gentle and calm he normally was. He only got nasty and defensive when a threat or danger, to either himself or his family arose. So why did he always treat her like an enemy dammit!

Sasuke sighed, "Shido niisan..." he said in a warning tone. Shido was only a few months older than himself but he still had to listen to Sasuke and right now Sasuke didn't want to hear an all out battle between his brother and self proclaimed girlfriend.

"We have transfers coming from Mystic Embers tomorrow," Ban replied smoothly returning his gaze to the view of the silent forest. The French windows were wide open and a drafty breeze flowed lazily through.

Ban took out his cigarette fully prepared to light it just as the teacher walked in. Paul sensei didn't look happy,

"Midou Ban put that out right this instant," Paul sensei barked.

Ban took a puff and slowly let it out, a soft "go to hell," could be heard amongst the smoke.

All at once the students were up and scrambling to get to their seats, a boy clumsily fell onto Ino knocking from her perch who in return hit Ban which caused him to choke on the smoke from his cigarette and in retaliation shoved the boy off of him... Unfortunately he shoved him a bit too hard and he flew straight into Paul sensei. Talk about a chain reaction...

Now that doesn't sound so bad... but when judging the boy's weight and the angle the ankle was twisted in afterward and not to mention that loud piercing scream that left his mouth...

It was safe to assume that Paul sensei's ankle was broken...

(**End Flashback**)

* * *

Ban sighed, "Oh well the bastard had it coming." he muttered whilst walking toward his room in the manor. The boys figured that this year they might as well try something different and opted to stay on their 'campus'.

"Who had what coming Aniki?" Sasuke asked coming up from behind him.

"Paul" Ban left out the honorific due to lack of respect. '_Bastards been trying to get me kicked out since I stepped foot into that door'_ he thought.

Sasuke would have laughed at his brother, but that went against every rule in the book so he settled for a smirk instead.

"So how are we going to _layout_ the ground rules?" he asked as he pushed open Ban's room door. Their rooms were right next door to each other. And the only other two occupants of the entire east wing fourth floor were Shido and Riku who were right across the hall.

Ban cracked his knuckles, "The good old fashioned way," He smirked in return and walked right through the open door. Honestly he had been surprised when Shido had suggested such a thing. The normally aloft man must have been getting bored or something of the sort. He normally didn't deal with people outside of his gang much less total strangers. Guess there was a first time for everything.

Sasuke proceeded to close the door and toss his bag down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. The room was massive and decorated lavishly as were the other three boys own. They were almost identical except for a few personal touches here and there.

The style of the rooms still had their old charm with only a few updates through it. As soon as you entered the room the wall opposite the door held the French doors which led to the balcony, and ceiling to floor length windows spanned the rest of the wall with sheer drapes covering them. To the right of the room was a caddy-cornered king sized canopy bed flanked by two nightstands. When you slid further down the wall there was a fireplace and next to it a door leading into the master closet. The master closet in itself was a decent sized room, but upon closer inspection there was a spiral staircase hidden in the back. The stairway here led to the master bath one flight up which alone could pass as three-fourths the size of the flat below.

Now back in the main room... to the left of the French doors along the wall opposite the closet was a dresser, a bookcase, and an arch way leading into a spacious kitchen/ sitting area. Along the wall where the room-door was (the one that lead to outside) was an impressive entertainment system, including a 65" flat panel TV, surround sound included. A hand crafted granite coffee table sat on an oriental rug a little way in front of the bed. A chandelier long since replaced with an electric one hung from the middle of the room. To finish off the look artwork and mirrors of various sizes and styles tastefully finished off the décor.

The color scheme for Ban's room was a beautiful crimson and gold. Sasuke's was navy blue and silver with mirrors and crystals adorning the walls. Riku's was a deep emerald green with silver. Wall water decorations and exotic colorful plant life brightened his room without going overboard. And Shido's was black with gold accents. Beautiful wall candles and marble animal sculptures added a mysterious aura to it. To accent their rooms even further their rugs and ceilings were a simple creamy light beige and white color respectively.

The boys had been given the entire wing simply because they had enough influence and money to get what they wanted.

Sasuke sighed and flopped on the bed ready to take a nap. There was an ominous feeling hanging around the air that only seemed to thicken as night fell.

* * *

Side Notes

1) I said it before the idea belongs to the Harlaxton Manor but I'm scrambling it up to fit my story. I guess you can say it's my manor with a few borrowed rooms.. Come to think of it all of it will probably be made up. If you wanna know what it looks like then go to Google image search and type in Harlaxton gold room and picture it twice as big and instead of it being on the first floor It will be on the second. My manor will have 5 floors with a few towers thrown in here and there.

2) (For those of you who never played Kingdom Hearts.) I made up the last name for Riku.


	2. Collision

_**Warnings**_: Yaoi/ Shonen ai. You don't like don't read. Flames aren't welcomed only constructive criticism.

_**Author's Note**_: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.

_**Main Pairings**_: SasuNaru BanGin RikuSora

Minor Pairings: SquallCloud ShidoKazuki KakaIru AkuRoku GaaraNeji (others will be added as the story progresses)

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot. It is a hundred percent **ORIGINAL! **Please don't steal my plot or if you see someone else using it please tell me! Arigatou.

_**Cue Music:**_ YouTube - _Veritable pandemonium_

_**Age**_:

Ban- 19

Sasuke- 18

Ginji- 18

Naruto- 17

Riku- 17

Sora- 16

Kazuki- 16

Shido- 18

Thoughts 'blah'

Speaking "blah"

Scene change_

* * *

_...Pant...Pant... _

_...gasp... _

A shadowed figure stood hunched over as it heaved in another shuddering breath; irritation clearly written on its face.

'_Is there no rest for the damn tired and weary?' _A soft low barely distinguishable growl made its way past clenched teeth.

The rain was unforgiving and the fog only seemed all too happy to lend its support in making the two already lost figures frustrated beyond belief.

"Oi Naru-chan hurry up we're already late!" called an upbeat cheery brunet teen who was currently running through the hazy fog. He was positive that he found the right route this time around. Alright so it only made _one_ lost figure frustrated beyond belief.

Naruto silently swore as he took off once again catching up as easily as he lagged behind.

'_Damn Aniki for being so freakin_ _tall'_, Naruto thought grudgingly.

'_Why? Why did I listen to him? His sense of direction is about as good as his driving skills!'_ Naruto shuddered at the memory of when he had attempted to teach his older brother to drive.

"Aniki when we get there...I'm gonna kill you...no wait, I'm gonna tie you to a chair! And then I'm gonna sit down with a nice big bowl of hot ramen and eat it in front of you! And I won't share a single bite!" Naruto threatened between gasping for air and trying to maintain his pace.

It wasn't that Naruto was out of shape, no quite the contraire. Naruto was at the peak of his health. Also had been that way for quite some time now, and was planning to stay that way till the day he died thank you very much. No, instead Ginji had gotten them side tracked by following the wrong path and had only come to realize it when the path slowly vanished into the unmarked area of the woods.

And that leads us back to the here and now... The two boys had to backtrack to find their way only to discover that what little daylight lit the sky was almost completely gone. So they decided to run for it seeing as to how neither of them wanted to be in the woods in the dark.

All of a sudden a gnarled upraised tree root seemed to appear from nowhere which Naruto of course tripped right over...and landed right, in his brother's arms?

"Daijoubu Naru-chan?" Ginji asked with a worry filled voice.

"Hai but this is all your fault!" Naruto glared but the effect was ruined by a cute pout that made itself known on his face.

(Cue music, _Veritable pandemonium)_

Ginji looked sheepish for a moment before a resolute look took its place.

'_Huh?'_ was the only thought Naruto was aloud before he was tugged forward once again.

"Ne, Naru-chan? Don't worry we'll be out of here soon I can feel it!" Ginji could feel it alright, and he didn't like it one damn bit.

'_Something's wrong here_,' Ginji though worriedly.

Although he didn't let it show he was quickly beginning to panic. And without really meaning to he picked up his pace.

'_Something's here!'_

His otouto yelped as his arm was almost taken out of its socket.

"Aniki you feel that too? Don't you?" Naruto asked as he scrambled to keep up. There was an odd stillness about them completely devoid of the wildlife that should have surrounded them. But yet despite that, the feeling of being watched, of being hunted prevailed sending chills up and down their spines.

"Hai," was the whisper of a reply that he got. Ginji wondered not for the first time if the woods weren't populated with carnivorous animals. He wished that was the case but something deep inside his gut told him that the explanation wasn't as easy as that.

The path seemed to blur before them as they weaved expertly along the twisted roots and fallen trees. Naruto too caught up in the adrenaline rush once again found himself mercilessly being pitched forward as his foot snagged on a root that he hadn't been able to see. As he layed on the ground he felt his heart pounding throughout his body, he felt weirdly dethatched almost as if he was running on auto pilot. The need to survive was the only objective and he wondered briefly if this is what an out of body experience felt like.

'_This feeling...it's horrible! It feels like I'm slowly suffocating...'_ Naruto whimpered as his brother picked him up and took off yet again. Only this time Naruto felt himself being hoisted off the ground and being tucked safely under his brother's chin.

Now one must wonder...What the hell? Well you see Naruto wasn't your typical average male height, he barley measured up to Ginji's mid-torso. And Ginji was 6'1 and that was saying something. He also had a muscular but slim form so he was extremely light.

Ginji broke off into an all out sprint that he knew his brother couldn't keep up with at the moment and made a mad dash to the clearing he saw right in front of him.

When they finally made their way out of the woods the feeling of asphyxiating slowly disappeared as if it had never been there.

(Cue music end)

Ginji was breathlessly watching the sight before him that enchanted his vision.

"Gin-niisan...You failed to mention the part where we're going to school at a castle," Naruto dead panned, awed at the sight before him.

Ginji not really paying attention, too hyper to explore pushed the terrifying encounter to the back of his mind.

"It's not a castle otouto, it's a manor" Gin-chan stated matter of factly with a huge supper silly grin on his face.

Naruto, being the immature brat that he was, proceeded to stick his tongue out and walked forward to the very intriguing Seraphim Manor.

* * *

Sasuke scowled at nothing in particular when_ that_ feeling passed by him for the second time today.

Sasuke had been attending this school for four years running; the fact that that disturbance would occur now was a bit unnerving.

'_Maybe it has to do with the few new guests arriving soon. Why would someone transfer half way through the year anyway?' _Sasuke pondered this new development for a little while longer. In the end he chalked it up to idiots who weren't able to maintain their grades so they tried looking for the easy way out by transferring.

'_Well they have another thing coming to them if they think that this is the easy way out. Not only is our academic criterion high but they'll have to deal with us to.' _It wasn't as if Sasuke enjoyed the interactions with other people, but his brothers enjoyed toying with others to alleviate their boredom. And regardless of his will he would be dragged in anyway.

Sasuke stared at the raging storm before him for a little while longer before deciding that he should get the others to go grab a bite to eat. After all he was starving.

* * *

Two boys coming into the great hall dripping wet on a Sunday night wasn't a normal occurrence. But seeing nobody in the hall was just downright creepy.

"Come on Otouto we need to see the headmaster about our sleeping arrangements, plus we still don't know our classes as yet." Ginji chimed.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto warned lightly.

"I'm leading the way this time."

With that said Naruto decided to follow the directions he'd been given prior to their arrival.

"You're so mean, Otouto!" Ginji whined.

Neither boy bothered looking up the grand staircase which was to the left of them. For if they had then they would have seen the four pairs of curious eyes trained on them.

* * *

"This is insane", Naruto panted.

They were running again...

They were inside school...

And they were running again...

They were inside school and being **chased...**

So yeah they were running again, and "**Dammit can this night get any worse?"**

(Flash Back)

Naruto was still peeved about the whole woods episode and he was showing it the most mature manner he could...

"I'm not sharing my ramen with you! And I mean it! Not a single bite. You did that on purpose," Naruto huffed.

"No, no Naru-chan I honestly got the signs mixed up, hehe" Chibi Ginji laughed nervously and sweat dropped. His arms flailed up and down all the while running back and forth in a frenzied motion, trying to calm his angry brother down so that way his face would change back to its normal tan instead of its currently glowing red state.

Chibi Ginji blinked up cutely at his otouto and said "Ano sa, you're scary when you're mad."

Seeing his brother in this state made Naruto instantly melt. '_Damn chibi form so hard to resist..._' Naruto was fighting so very hard to hang onto his anger that he had so rightfully acquired. After all, he got lost in the woods... in the woods while it was raining, do you have any idea how much Naruto hated the rain? And then they almost ran into something! (Which by the way they were supposed to be getting away from in the first place.) Naruto wasn't stupid, he felt that presence before, it was only briefly but it was there nonetheless...and to top it all off he ran all the way here!

Naruto sighed yet again, while he lost the inner battle waging inside his head.

"Yay Naru-chan's not mad anymore!" Chibi Ginji cheered while shimmying his way up Naruto's legs like a tapeworm only to firmly attach himself to his back and refuse to let go.

"Yes I am," Naruto puffed out his cheeks stubbornly.

Then they once again ventured forward in an attempt to find the headmaster's office. Ginji in the meantime was still attached to Naruto's back playing with his waist length braid.

Naruto was so busy looking for the room number that he didn't even realize he'd bumped into somebody until it was too late. "Uh s-s-sorry," the nervous stutter hung awkwardly in the air.

Ginji immediately slid off his back and stood at his full height.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" Demanded a teen who towered even over Ginji. The guy was massive, brolic, and he looked as though he could break Naruto in half.

'_I'm going to die aren't I?_' Naruto paled at the sight before him.

"Um we were just looking for the headmaster's office, we're new here..." Ginji gulped uneasily at the crazed glint that just entered the man's eye.

'_I don't think I should have said that'_ he thought but ventured forward anyway.

"...and we're very sorry we'll pay better attention next time." Ginji finished with a nervous smile and small chuckle.

"Oh so you're one of them new rich snobs from Mystic Embers, eh?" the boy sneered at them.

"The name's Zabuza and your trespassing on Demon's territory," it was then that the boys noticed that there were at least three other students with him.

"I think we need to teach you boy's some manners." Zabuza ground out, as a twisted malicious smile warped his face. "It's rude to go where you're uninvited."

"We're _really_ very sorry," Ginji tried stressing again seeing as how Naruto's mouth refused to work properly.

"Oh but you will be, more than you'll ever know" an unknown member piped up stepping forward.

"Kuso!" was the only word that made its way pass Naruto's loosened lips before Ginji pulled him towards a mad dash in the opposite direction...

(End flash back)

* * *

"Damn the hour and curse the fucking minute I woke up this morning..." Naruto bit out harshly.

Ginji would have reprimanded him for his language but he figured he had all rights to whatever obstinacies he could think up right now.

The brunet was roughly more than two feet taller than Naruto, so he could naturally run faster, which also was the reason for Naruto falling slightly behind.

'_Can't afford to get into trouble when I didn't even start yet!' _Naruto thought wildly.

Naruto closed his eyes and rounded a corner...

'_Not again' _

'_Please dear god have mercy!' _

Naruto and Ginji were on the floor...

...or at least they were supposed to be...

..._Did floors breathe?_ ...

"Not the last time I checked, Dobe"

Naruto stiffened _'Crap did I just say that out loud? Wait a damn minute'..._

"Don't call me dobe, Teme!" he hollered.

Why was he on the floor again?

Oh yeah he knocked someone over,

Or more precisely _ran_ into somebody

'_Ran? Why was I running again?' _

For the umpteenth time that evening Naruto cursed. He heard Ginji scrambling to get up and thought it wise to do the same. He quickly grabbed his fallen glasses off the floor and peered at the person he knocked over. It then registered in his mind that there were female voice's accompanied by male ones yelling at them.

Obsidian eyes met brown for a brief moment before he heard more yelling very distinctly this time, "They went down this way hurry!"

Ginji quickly grabbed his hand and with a quick, "Gomenasai!" they were off once again.

Shouts and shrieks of "watch where the hell you're going!" could be heard but they paid them no mind.

But as they got further away he still felt them, those eyes drilling holes in their backs.

* * *

Ginji was not in a good mood. Nope far from it he was depressed.

"Twice... two times in one day" he muttered dejectedly, holding up two fingers to mimic his words.

This wasn't fair! They had hid in an empty room until they could make another break for it. Finding the headmaster's office was becoming a real mission.

Naruto for one was surprised that people were still roaming about the building at eight forty-five at night. However it was a welcomed change to the lifeless dimly lit hallways upon entrance of the manor.

'_What time is curfew anyway?' _

As they wandered the massive corridors they realized with complete and utter dread that they were hopelessly lost yet again!

'_Karma sucks! Especially when it was all screwed up...I mean what did we ever do to the great deities upstairs?' _

Eventually they did hit a break when they ran into two beautiful but shy looking girls that went by the names of Hinata and Kairi.

"We don't mean to bother you Hinata-chan, Kairi-chan..." Ginji bowed slightly too each girl respectfully.

"...but we're kinda lost and we would really appreciate it if you could point us in the direction of the headmaster's office." Naruto finished sweetly.

"If you'd like we could take you there." Hinata offered a small shy smile and ducked her head so that the two long bangs framing her face would hide the small blush adorning her cheeks.

"We don't wanna make you go outta your way or anything…." Naruto scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture trailing off.

"OH! No! It won't be a problem at all we have time to spare." Kairi protested sweetly as a smile lit up her angelic face.

"Arigatou," was their overenthusiastic simultaneous answer.

After explaining their chaotic state to the girls they both took pity on them and told the boys they'd meet them in the library after their briefing with the Headmaster.

* * *

Ginji was zoning out again as the new principle welcomed them into the school... _'Those eyes, they were so beautiful, He has vibrant eyes like Otousan, but somehow... different... his eyes are different, darker, almost icy. Otousan's eyes rival the blue cloudless sky and his eyes resemble the deep vibrant Arctic Ocean. I wonder who he is.' _

The brunet hadn't had time to get a proper look at the poor guy he ran into but one glimpse of his face reassured him that the features were most defiantly masculine. Not to mention that certain parts of his anomy confirmed his suspicions...Ginji promptly turned red after he realized where his thoughts were headed. He shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of those eyes and the strange feelings and thoughts they seem to bring about.

"Aniki, daijoubu?" Naruto asked the worry clear in his voice

For the first time since entering that room, Ginji blinked out of his stupor and took a good look at their headmaster.

She appeared to be fairly young not to mention beautiful despite her age.

She had light hazel eyes and beautiful blonde locks. The name plate on her desk read Himoura Hevan.

"Hai, gomen I was just thinking, sorry to interrupt you Hevan-sama" Ginji smiled brightly.

"It's fine. Now then here are your schedules. Oh and boys? Please be careful." Hevan finished with a smile.

"Arigatou and no need to worry we promise we will be... baa-san" Naruto seemed to add as an afterthought.

'_If they're older than 30 than they're old'_ Naruto seemed to conclude in his head.

Ginji blinked cutely, he could have sworn he saw a vain twitching in her forehead a moment ago... _'Oh well maybe I was seeing things'_

"Ja Ne" Ginji called out as he left the room.

Once the boys were outside the office they heard a loud bang accompanied by a shrill outraged cry...

"WHO IS HE CALLIG OLD! I'M ONLY 38!"

The boys hurried away fearing for their lives. Once they were at a safe distance away from the office, they stopped to compare their schedules.

There were eight periods in a day excluding homeroom and their programs went in this order.

Ginji- 0) Homeroom 1) English2) History 3) Music 4) Lunch 5) Science 6) Gym 7) Math 8) Home ecs

Naruto- 0) Homeroom 1) Home ecs 2) Math 3) Music 4) Lunch 5) Science 6) Gym 7) English 8) History

"Well at least we have four periods together." Ginji pointed out happily.

"Thank God I'm one grade above normal" Naruto remarked. The raven in his previous school had been top of his grade. He had aced all his tests and was a fast learner. So he was allowed to skip a grade and joined up with his brother.

When the boys were sure the coast was clear they made their way to the library using the student guide map they'd just received. Naruto couldn't help but spin around in awe.

From what they could see there were three floors of endless books. And a single Iron spiral stair case hung from the roof, each floor was connected to the staircase with platforms.

"Aniki this place is huge!"

"Yea I know, do you think they have manga here too?" Ginji, already excited was about ready to go hunting for some decent reading material when he suddenly remembered their purpose.

"Ne, Naru-chan maybe the girls can help us!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Hai let's go." Naruto agreed in a heartbeat.

"They said that they would be on the second floor near the fireplace and sitting area." Naruto put his finger by his lips in wonder.

He followed the directions as best he could and actually for the first time today found something without getting lost. (They had a _little _trouble finding the library.) He was practically beaming when he found the girls.

They were each curled up in a very soft and fluffy looking white sofa. Ginji was tempted to sit in one of the chairs but then quickly remembered his drenched state. He needed a bath... and now.

"D..did you guys find your way here okay?" Hinata asked timidly glancing up from her book.

"It was a piece of cake" Naruto answered grinning for reasons unknown to her.

"If you girls don't mind, um I think we need a bath." Ginji closed one eye, stuck his tongue out a little at the corner of his mouth, and knocked his head lightly with a clenched fist in an embarrassed gesture.

Kari and Hinata giggled.

"If you know which wing and room you're staying in we'll be more than happy than to take you there." Kairi offered

"Oh! Wait a second..."

Naruto was fishing out a piece of paper from his pocket only to realize his mistake.

He looked at the ruined wet piece of paper in dismay.

"uuhhh oops?" he offered bashfully.

'_How the hell did I manage to do that? Oh well let's see here...'_

The raven haired boy tried squinting (because the ink bled together), only to barely make out the letters.

'E...A...8...T?'

"E A 8 T?" Naruto voiced his confusion

"East?" Hinata offered quietly?

"That can't be right" Kairi said. She extended her hand asking for permission to see the paper and Naruto gladly handed it over.

"But the east wing belongs to the Shimagara no hebi." Kairi stated in total confusion.

'_What is she talking about?'_ Ginji wondered.

"And the rooms are on _that_ floor?" Now if possible, she was even more baffled than before. The top floor of any wing was usually reserved for important residents or special guest.

"Sou ka...demo...oh well we'll get this sorted out in a second. Come on guys you're in the same wing as us." Kairi retrieved the book she had been reading and made her way to the front of the group with Hinata.

The walk back was long, the manor was bigger than either Ginji or Naruto could ever fathom.

The four of them fell into a comfortable conversation which lasted all the way to their destination.

When they finally reached the rooms, Kairi and Hinata were both a little shocked to see the boy's rooms were indeed where the slip of paper said it would be. On the door was a little notice stating that the boy's things were already placed inside. And to further the notion the keys actually opened the door.

"Well Naruto-kun, Ginji-kun see you in the morning, our rooms are directly below yours, the staircase for the East wing is right past those doors," Hinata pointed to her right. She had finally started to feel comfortable with the two and conversation flowed much more easily.

'Goodnights' were exchanged as everyone headed to their respective rooms.

To the brothers' delight they found out that their rooms were conjoined rooms. There was a master bathroom that connected the two rooms together. The rooms were way bigger than what they were use to but it was still comfortable none the less. Along with their massive sizes everything in the rooms was simply magnificent. It was weird when it came down to it. Naruto and Ginji would've never have been able to afford these living arrangements but everything for this private school had already been paid for by an unknown sponsor.

Not that the boy's weren't grateful but it made them a little scared to think about. Who in their right mind would be watching out for them?

For the first time in weeks both boys had peaceful dreamless sleeps. Too bad it wouldn't last for long.

* * *

Sasuke's face was passive as he waited in the courtyard. It was early morning and the bell for home room had yet to ring.

He looked up to the sky and pondered, _'I wonder what they're like... they're probably like everyone else, I swear if one more person tries to jump me, or join my fan club I'm gonna to impale them on the school's flag pole...,_' his dark thought's trailed off into the subject more than he would've liked them too and soon he found himself scowling once again.

The boys were nothing special at all from what they had seen the night before. But of course the only thing they saw from the staircase was their backs as they walked away. That is until they ran into them again, most literally. Sasuke couldn't really make out much of their faces. The only thing he saw was brown eyes mostly covered by a dark long overgrown fringe. After that they decided to run for their lives cutting off any further examination.

The courtyard was now full and his fan club was huddled into small groups surrounding him a few feet away. Even with the school's population limited to 600 students he still was endlessly harassed. Most of them were waiting for the 'right moment' to approach him, which in their heads consisted of him looking into their eyes and smiling. _'Like hell they really needed any encouragement!'_ His scowl darkened even further. The few that were brave enough to venture forth were shot down horribly.

_'God Dammit don't they know I'm already taken?_' If possible Uchiha Sasuke was practically pulsating with brooding vibes. _'I don't want a girlfriend, I don't need one but if I let her go then I'm practically feeding myself to the freaking wolfs, not that they leave me alone when I'm with her but damn that girl can be scary when she's pissed_.' Don't get him wrong, there was no way in hell that Sasuke would ever be afraid of a girl. But he had morals and they called for him not to hit a girl unless you absolutely had to. So hence Sakura was around to fend off the evil she demons reincarnated. Problem was she could turn into quite the leech herself. In true Shikamaru fashion Sasuke sighed, "Mendokuse (troublesome)."

"What's on your mind otouto?"

Sasuke looked up into the impossibly blue eyes of his brother, "Nothing's wrong Aniki, why would there be?"

Ban chuckled "I never said there was anything wrong, I said, what's on your mind?"

Sasuke silently cursed, he hadn't been paying attention and played right into his brothers mind game.

'_Dammit, I'm really out of it_...'

Ban gave his younger half a once over, he had been in too much of a rush to leave the room this morning to pay him any mind. Ino woke him up at five o'clock demanding a ride to school.

'_Who in there right friggin mind, wakes up at that ungodly hour_?' Ban mused. But then again he spent about an hour waiting for the girl's supposed "five minutes" to finish getting ready. The end result was a pissed off half dressed Ino slung over Ban's shoulder being thrown onto his motorcycle. She cursed him all the way to school and then some. '_I knew I should have just stayed in bed' _he mentally berated himself. After all, the girls lived in the city a good hour away from there. Fortunately not with the way Ban drove though. He finally managed to convince Sakura and Ino to dorm at the Manor about a week ago, but they had to wait till the weekend to move them in.

Looking at his otouto once more he smirked at his attire. Sasuke wore leather pants that accentuated his every curve and lay dangerously low on those perfectly slim yet slightly curved hips. He wore a sleeveless tight leather jacket that ended right above his navel and it had a silver zipper running straight up the front. Several belts decorated his hips and a few were strapped to his thighs. A single choker was placed on his neck with a small Uchiha family crest as a pendent. His ears held a platinum diamond stud in the left lobe, a Padparadscha Sapphire stud right above it and a special crystallized winged earcuff at the very top of his right ear. The earring's were an indication of status for the four leaders of the Shimagara no Hebi gang. Also numerous bangles adorned his left hand while a small platinum gold snake band wrapped along his right forearm ending before the black fingerless gloves. The span of his arms was littered with small buckles here and there. And of course the finishing touch would be the black tattoo of a phoenix that was showing on his back. Its wings wrapped around his abdomen to frame his pierced naval. All in all Sasuke was dressed to kill.

'_No wonder all the girls were drooling..._'

Sasuke's steel-toe boots taped impatiently on the ground waiting for his brother's answer to his question.

Sasuke wasn't the only one who went all out today. Nope, Ban had his fair share of admirers drooling to, Sasuke noted. His Aniki wore tight leather pants that showed off his built legs, he too let quite a few belts hang off his hips. But unlike Sasuke he opted to wear a fishnet shirt with a fitted sleeveless leather jacket on top. He also sported fingerless gloves, but they end half way up his forearm instead of his wrist. He had two platinum bracelet cuffs that were about four inches long, decorate his wrist, and a platinum Snake armband adorned his left bicep. Around his neck laid, a single chain that contained the family crest dangling from it. In his left lobe was a platinum diamond stud, right above it a tanzanite blue gem, and like Sasuke, an identical crystallized winged earcuff at the top of his right ear that shown brighter than a diamond prism with every move he made.

'_Aniki must sense it to, the whole atmosphere feels different.'_

"You're brooding, any idiot could see that" Ban's hands immediately went to adjust his sunglasses, which seemed permanently attached to his face.

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest but soon realized that it was impossible to argue with the older man.

"How do you suggest we find them Ban?" the new voice smooth and inquiring.

"Easy, they're going to come to us," was Ban's reply.

Just then a body firmly attached itself to each of the boys.

Ino and Sakura were blushing like mad and it was obviously for the same exact reason that every other girl was.

"You look nice Sasuke-kun," Sakura offered timidly. Mean time inner Sakura was busy yelling, _'Nice? He looks nice? He looks like a god!'_

"Hn" was her only reply.

"Ban-kun I can't believe you dressed up for me..." Ino started off before she was rudely interrupted.

"...That's because he didn't" came a calm and collected voice. Well, as calm and collected as a voice could be when a condescending smirk adorned the speakers face. Shido stood a few meters away eying the group ahead of him.

Riku silently stood next to him but then made his presents known with a small nod of acknowledgement towards the girls.

Sakura and Ino looked around them. Apparently Shido wasn't lying seeing as all four boys looked as though they were trying to seduce the whole school.

'_Well, it's working, pretty damn well!'_ they thought including Shido despite their grudge.

Shido and Riku were dressed similarly. Only Shido opted for a clingy black sleeveless shirt with no jacket. A Dark sash took the place of his usual white one on his forehead. Dark brown leather pants hugged his skin tightly and similar jewelry was worn. His Snake jewelry of choice was a gold necklace that wrapped around his neck a few times before ending with the hebi's head in position between his collarbones fangs bared ready to strike. The only differences to indicate status were the earrings. Shido had a simple gold dangling feather earring in his right ear, a painite gem above it, and a winged earcuff of the same crystal was placed on top his left ear instead.

The beauty known as Riku, seeing as the mornings were so chilly, went for the form-fitting trench-coat look with the sleeves shoved up to his elbow, a silver midriff tank-top placed underneath, and leather pants that seemed to be painted on. Riku's earrings were in the same fashion as Shido's, only his turquoise crystallized gem matched his eyes and instead of the gold dangling earring, he had white-gold dangling earrings with his identical winged cuff secured in the left ear as well. He wore a black choker with an intricate moonstone carved cross as a pendent. The snake insignia on his person was a platinum ring that wrapped around his right middle finger and wound up into a bracelet cuff that only appeared to wrap around his wrist a few times. Small buckle straps were scattered along his thighs. And the same fingerless gloves everyone else wore finished his ensemble.

Suddenly the girls were feeling quite hot. '_Why the hell are they all so dressed up?_ _Not to say the boy's don't always look good but they usually saved this type of appearance for special occasions..._' Sakura's thoughts trailed off.

"Shit, I totally forgot about the transfer students!" she slapped a hand to her forehead.

"What else is new?" Shido muttered.

"Oh shut the fuck up already!" Sakura retaliated, getting fully ready to get into a verbal if not physical war with the other teen.

However Sasuke's warning glare and the quiet, "Urusai" shut them up rather quickly.

As Riku turned his head his earrings gave a soft chiming sound as the crystal winged earcuff shimmered brilliantly in the light. He faced Sakura, "Don't worry about it, we'll deal with them when we see them..." he was interrupted by the sound of the homeroom bell ringing.

"Come on let's go." Ban ordered.

Almost all at once the group started to move towards the school entrance. On their way to the door there were several greetings exchanged between the Shimagara no Hebi gang members and their leaders.

Since they all had homeroom together they started to make their way to their class.

* * *

The morning was very hectic seeing as the boys were too tired to unpack the night before.

Nevertheless Ginji and Naruto had always had a routine; it was set with their biological clocks only slightly altered with their current living arrangements.

Within the span of twenty minutes both boys had brushed their teeth, showered, combed their hair, and had even grabbed a bite to eat. Nothing to fancy, seeing as they hadn't done their grocery as of yet.

Naruto was running down the hall with a piece of toast sticking out of his mouth too busy damning that bitch 'karma' to hell to chew properly. He'd never done anything wrong! He swore on it...well at least nothing that deserved this kinda luck.

When he finally caught up to Ginji he regulated his breathing and straightened his clothes.

Ginji promptly plucked the piece of toast outta Naruto's mouth and scarfed it down.

"I'm sorry were you going to eat that?" Ginji countered the disbelieving look on Naruto's face with his best puppy dog eyes. And as always...it worked.

"Aniki I'm really nervous." Naruto whined leaning heavily on his big brother. Ginji chuckled and threw an arm over the little ones shoulders successfully bring his otouto closer to him which caused him to sigh.

'_As long as I have my Aniki I will always be safe.'_ Naruto thought idly wrapping his small arms around Ginji's waist.

They silently made their way to their homeroom class. There was still time left for the period. Both brothers were so lost in thought they almost passed the room. Naruto took a deep breath and looked at the brunet.

Ginji was anxious as hell but that didn't stop him from being his ever cheerful self. He gave Naruto his hundred watt smile and said, "Relax otouto and everything is going to be just fine."

Smiling back he gently knocked on the door. A soft "come in" was heard and that was all. Naruto quietly slid the door open and entered with Ginji trailing along slightly behind him. After they greeted the teacher they were told to introduce themselves to their classmates. As Naruto was about to introduce himself his eyes landed on a pair of obsidian orbs and he immediately froze.

'_This isn't happening, this isn't happening, I'm dreaming I'm going to wake up soon lalalala'_ Naruto singsonged in his head.

Ginji not really paying attention to the rest of the class introduced himself, while looking at the raven oddly.

"My name is Amano Ginji, and it is very nice to meet you all." He spoke absentmindedly.

'_I wonder what's wrong with Naru-chan.' _

When Ginji spoke Naruto broke out of his revere and hurriedly introduced himself, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and it is a pleasure to meet you all."

The first time Naruto bumped into him the only thing he could see was the teen's obsidian eyes. Now he had a perfect view, and what he saw made him desperately try to fight off the heat rising in his neck threatening to spill out on his face. Was it possible to look like a fallen angel? '_Maybe a fallen angel from hell, he looks everything but innocent!'_ The chibi scoffed in his head.

All of a sudden both of them were terribly aware of the stares they were receiving.

"These are two of our new students from Mystic Embers, please behave towards them." The teacher spoke.

'_Behave towards them, what does he mean?_'

Almost immediately, memories from earlier came flooding back to him. _'I'm gonna die aren't I?'_ Naruto dead panned for the second time since his arrival.

"Naruto?" the teacher called.

"Hai" he answered hesitantly.

"You will be sitting next to Uchiha Sasuke, Sasuke please raise your hand." The teacher looked directly at Sasuke as she spoke praying to whatever god was listening for him to actually cooperate. Sasuke was the type of person who only did thing when it benefited him or he wanted to, so when he lazily raised a few fingers it was noted as a miracle.

"And Ginji you will be sitting next to Midou Ban."

It was then that Ginji took his eyes off his otouto to look around for the student called Ban. Black met blue and Ginji froze in almost the same fashion as Naruto. _'Oh boy... Kami-sama if you're up there please hear my prayer and save me.'_

It was the same two from earlier, there was no mistaking it. Sasuke stared at the kid who was slowly making his way towards him. _'This boy looks like something the cat dragged off the street...' _There was absolutely nothing special about him.

Naruto had a waist length black braid and way over grown bangs that covered most of his face. Not only that, but his glasses took up nearly more than half his face. He was practically drowning in his way too big black t-shirt and blue jeans. And he seemed to be a little on the short side...okay a lot on the short side.

Yep there was nothing special about this boy at all; but yet what was this weird pull he felt towards him? Sasuke grimaced as he recognized the hungry look on Naruto's face which was quickly replaced by an embarrassed one. Of course Sasuke's face stayed passive as ever. The only feature that actually made an effort to move was the delicately shaped eyebrow which shot up about half an inch at the facial expressions he was receiving.

Ban studied Amano Ginji long and hard, his face betraying no emotion.

He watched as Ginji avoided his gaze at all cost and almost smirked...almost. The boy had chocolate brown hair which was overly grown. It seemed to be spiky but hung down due to its length, right along his shoulders. His bangs were long enough to graze his cheek bone. And just like the boy next to him he wore huge glasses to cover his black eyes. It seemed as though the boys had a fetish for big clothes because even though Ginji was tall his clothes seemed to swallow him whole.

'_They_ _really won't last till the week's end'_ Ban mused. _'This is gonna be fun...'_

Ban was seated in the last row next to the windows so Ginji had to sit to his right. Right in front of Ginji was Sasuke and to Sasuke's left was Naruto. Naruto turned his head around to his right and gave his brother a pleading look only to find that same look mirrored on his brothers face staring back at him full force.

'_It's okay Ginji you can do this!' _Ginji's mind told him over and over again_. 'He's not so bad, just don't make eye contact and you'll be fine...then why the heck is he drilling holes into my head!' _Ginji could feel the sweat start to form.

'_Don't turn around, don't turn around, don't tur...damn to_ _late' _Ginji found himself getting lost in Ban's eyes once again_. _

'_Bad, bad, really bad, uh... uh... distraction.. um...think...think...think.. oh bother(1), jeez why are his eyes so hypnotizing?...'_ Ginji's eyes started to droop.

'_How is he doing that? His eye's looks like a cat's, and are they glowing?_ (1)_' _Slowly he drifted when suddenly a concerned voice rung out.

"Aniki, daijoubu?" Naruto asked softly. The worry showed clearly in his eyes while shaking his brother's leg gently. He couldn't quite reach his shoulder from this his seat so he opted for the closest thing available which just so happened to be his leg.

'_This isn't normal, he never zones out like this on me,'_ Naruto's thoughts not easing his mind in the least.

"Hai, sorry Naru-chan, I'm aaa.." Ginji stalled for a moment to think.

"...hungry." he finished happily. The raven's face visible relaxed.

"For a moment I thought something was wrong," Naruto mused.

Nether boy caught the small exchange between the Uchiha brothers. Sasuke's eyes had widened a fraction at the little revelation; he didn't expect them to be related. But other than that his face remained perfectly void. Ban's eyes on the other hand, promised bloody murder.

'_Damn idiot ruined it, now I'll have to wait till tomorrow,' _he fumed.

'_That's alright I guess, I'll just have to get the brat instead. First things first though, I need to get a hold of their schedules. I'll leave that up to Shido, he can get it next period.' _

Just then Sasuke gave his brother a knowing look. Since the original plan failed it seemed as though things would have to get physical. Which was just fine by Sasuke, he preferred a little challenge. But by the looks of those two there would be absolutely none.

'_Especially if they were running from Zabuza and his losers earlier.'_

The younger Uchiha sighed. This was going to be one boring ass day. Or not... his feelings were never wrong. And something told him that these two boys were different, he didn't know how but they were. Sasuke looked to the left of him, _'Uzumaki Naruto, eh? Well let's see what you got.'_

* * *

A.n.- Revamped!...Yet again…sigh… sorry guys I'm trying to make this damn thing flow more freely and every time I read it I find more inconsistencies.


	3. Tsukimi my Hero

_**Warnings**_: Yaoi/ Shonen ai. You don't like don't read. Flames aren't welcomed only constructive criticism.

_**Author's Note**_: Review's are still welcomed. And for future reference you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion. All Characters belong to a series if you don't know which just ask and I'll be happy to help.

_**Main Pairings**_: SasuNaru BanGin RikuSora

Minor Pairings: SquallCloud ShidoKazuki KakaIru AkuRoku GaaraNeji (others will be added as the story progresses)

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot. It is a hundred percent **ORIGINAL! **Please don't steal my plot or if you see someone else using it please tell me! Arigatou.

_**Cue Music:**_ (None for this chapter)

_**Age**_:

Ban- 19

Sasuke- 18

Ginji- 18

Naruto- 17

Riku- 17

Sora- 16

Kazuki- 16

Shido- 18

Thoughts 'blah'

Speaking "blah"

Scene change_

* * *

_'Two? There were only two?_' eyebrows furred in concentration.

_'That can't be right Neji (1) said there were about four or five students, he's never been wrong before...oh well two is enough, especially if they're all klutzy like those two..._' a solemn looking face turned slightly to the left to look behind him.

_'Then again there's something about those two, what were there names again?... Naruto and Ginji, was it?' _

Riku considered himself to be a practical guy, but he had an amazing intuition, and could judge a person's intent almost on sight.

And he knew. ..didn't need anyone to tell him cause he _knew_ those two were hiding something. And it wasn't a little something either. But he would keep that little secret to himself for now, after all his brothers were smart. Ban and Sasuke most likely already knew this and were trying to figure out what it was. And Shido would catch on sooner or later...

Aqua eyes zoned out while staring up at the ceiling waiting for homeroom to end.

Just then a student stepped in with a stack of papers in hand. Apparently quite a few of the student's schedules had to be changed to accommodate the new students and staff they were receiving. Riku looked at the paper handed to him with mild distaste. He liked his old schedule. He had already charmed his way to almost perfect grades with the teachers. But with this new one he'd have to start all over again. Not that he couldn't get perfect grades if he had really wanted to; Riku was damn near brilliant but he found his efforts were wasted in school.

Frowning he muttered softly, "Kuso..."

* * *

The bell rang signaling the start of their day.

'_Oh joy'_ Naruto thought sarcastically.

He had dreaded this for some strange reason, he didn't want to leave his Aniki's side and couldn't for the life of him figure out why the hell not.

A hand closed around his shoulder startling him out of his thoughts. He was turned around to be confronted with a huge smile.

Ginji looked at his otouto and whispered, "Good luck Naru-chan and have fun." The older teen then quickly left the room in search of his own classes.

Naruto stood there a little confused by the whole exchange, well at least until he was shoved out of the way, almost causing him to fall. A harsh, "Move it nerd" was heard before he quickly scrambled to get out the classroom.

'_What do I have again? Oh yeah home-ecks (2)'_ Naruto remembered whilst searching for the proper room. The map was pretty easy to follow. In the center of the manor was a huge courtyard which he had to cross in order to get to his class.

It was odd...the field was disserted, or at least it felt that way. The yard was almost barren with the exception of a few students milling about. Naruto was halfway across the courtyard before pausing lost in thought. He just stood there as if in a trance letting the soft breeze play with his long locks. He could feel his body grow tired but didn't have the will to stop it.

His daze was cut short though as he was roughly shaken awake.

"Yo, dude don't fall asleep in the middle of the yard standing like that. It's gonna hurt like a bitch later if you fall."

Naruto swiftly turned around to face the mysterious voice. Standing in front of him was a tall well built brunet. He had a feral masculine look going for him. He was handsome but not Naruto's type. He had two red stripes going down either side of his cheek he realized belatedly, as his grin revealed two sharp canines.

"The names Kiba," the teen introduced himself as he extended his hand to the short boy in front of him.

It took Naruto a second to realize in his hazy stupor that the brunet had been addressing him.

"Oh - uh, sorry 'bout that, I'm Naruto and I'm new here" He chuckled a little embarrassed scratching the back of his head while shaking the offered hand.

It was then that Naruto noticed the other guys standing alongside Kiba. Catching his wondering gaze, Kiba grinned broadly and started introducing everyone.

"Alright from right to left, we have Shikamaru, Chouji, Roxas, and Axel." Each of them motioned to with a quick flick of his wrist. After all the introductions were complete the chibi felt his nervousness start to ebb away.

"I was on my way to home-economics. I guess I spaced out a little." Naruto said easily.

"Cool when do you have lunch?" Roxas piped up.

Roxas was the smallest of the group but was about a good foot and a quarter taller than Naruto so that still left him pretty tall. He had wild blonde spikes and sparkling blue eyes that were set into a baby face that a trace of fat still clung too stubbornly. His outfit was muted but complemented his features all the same. His pants were black skinny jeans that left breathing room. Crisp white timberlands with black rubber soles, laces, and leather top donned his feat. His upper body was wrapped in a collared sleeveless white zippered vest with red outlining at the wide collar.

He wore two sapphire studs in his right ear and a crystal cuff (made of that strange material the hebi's were) on his left one. On his hands he wore two titanium rings on his thumbs and middle fingers. Of all his jewelry though the most eye catching had to be the strange sphere orb-like necklace with some sort of shimmery glowing red and gold..._energy_ _mass_ floating around (3). Naruto felt as though he was having déjà vu, he could pass for _his_ twin any day…minus the obvious height difference.

'_They all look so...different, beautiful in their own right_.' Naruto filed this information away for later to ponder over before snapping back to attention.

"Fourth band I think."

"You wanna eat with us?" Choji offered while munching away on chips.

Naruto's face lit up with a genuine smile.

'_Finally someone that's not out for my blood- err soul, whichever comes first!'_.

"Sure thing! You won't mind if I bring my brother, would you?"

"Not at all man," Axel grinned.

Naruto had to do a double take after glancing at the fiery redhead. Axel wasn't so much as beautiful as he was exotic. Tall and lanky his frame didn't look like much but the raven would not be fooled by the willowy silhouette. His very presence emitted a predatory feel. His relaxed demeanor charming face and stunning uniquely colored eyes would lull anyone into a false sense of security if they didn't know better.

Axel's attire like Roxas was simple but flattering. He wore dark wash grey skinny jeans with a red v-neck sleeveless shirt and a white form fitting blazer that had its sleeves pushed up to his elbow. On his feet he wore white leather dress shoes. The classy look was punked out a bit by multiple chain belts hanging off his waist. Similar to Roxas's he had two black titanium rings on his thumbs and middle fingers, and the ruby studs and cuff on his ear mirrored the blondes. And just like Roxas he had that same identical beautiful pendent, only his seemed to contain more crimson and Roxas's more gold.

As always, the shrill cry of the bell rang out interrupting the boys and breaking entranced eyes away from the curious pendants.

Naruto could barely hear the word, "Mendokuse" as it left Shikamaru's mouth.

"Shit! There goes the bell catch ya later!" Kiba threw over his shoulder as the boys ran off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Naruto couldn't help but stare in amazement at the room he just walked into. The classroom was huge! And each station was like a little mini kitchen. The kind you would see at all of those nationwide cook-offs. There were state of the art, glass top stoves, and stainless steel refrigerators and sinks. The countertops were a black granite color with little gold flecks in them. And polished wooden floors finished the amazing 'classroom'.

He felt nervous standing there in front the class, '_I wonder what my teacher's like? Or if the students in here are assholes too. Why the heck am I so nervous? I feel like I'm being watched but I can't figure out why.'_

The raven was still contemplating when out of nowhere a hand was placed over his eyes and he was startled very badly.

"Guess, who?" a sing song voice rang out.

'_I'd know that voice anywhere!_'

"Aerith-oneechan what are you doing here!" Naruto demanded still in a bit of shock. He whirled around and gave her a bear hug.

"Actually you have to call me 'Aerith-sensei' for now. I'm going to be your teacher!" She explained happily hugging him just as tight.

"Hhhhmmmm...let's see where to put you?...oh I know you can sit next to Haruno Sakura! Sakura please raise your hand."

Sakura looked shocked, horrified, and finally disgusted as she raised her hand ever so slightly almost hoping that Naruto wouldn't see her. No such luck however, Naruto was at her side in an instant.

'_She's really pretty, but she looks like she just saw a bug or something...I wonder why?_'

As the teen took his seat he tried to introduce himself and start a conversation but was rudely shot down.

"I'm already taken so save your breath and keep the hell away from me. The last thing I want is for people to think I'm actually associated with you in any way shape or form possible, you freak." Sakura let out all in one breath speaking a mile a minute.

"Gomenasai Sakura cha..."

"And don't use such formalities with me!"

Naruto sweatdropped, '_Well I guess that answers what the hell the bug was...jeez_.'

The raven looked hurt for a second but as fast as it came it left making Sakura doubt it was there to begin with. Instead a huge grin was plastered to his face and he started to look around the class. He didn't recognize anyone which wasn't surprising, except a few faces from his homeroom class. And was that...Hinata? His revelation came to a screeching halt as his eyes locked onto the obsidian pairs in front of him.

'_Oh no...no no no no... not again, somebody up there really hates me. Where is Gin-niichan when you need him?_' Naruto paled.

The work stations at which they sat could accommodate 2 people, and there were three different rows of stations and three stations per column... Naruto sat in the middle row at station two. In front of him sat Hinata, and a boy who looked a lot like her. Well he had the same eyes and complexion at least. What was his name again...Neji?

To Naruto's immediate right was Sakura and across from her were people he didn't recognize at all. In the row to his left sat his worst nightmare...or so he thought. Uchiha Sasuke gave him a once over and proceeded to stare at him as if studying him. The Uzumaki's face went from colorless to cherry red in less than 2.5 seconds. He didn't know why he was so terrified of the gorgeous male in front of him. But something told him he needed to be. And Naruto be damned if he didn't listen to his instincts.

'_Hn the dobe has this class with me as well? He looks as if he never touched a knife or spatula much less a stove in his life. He'll probably burn the whole room down if he's left alone. At least he has Sakura with him she's the best female chief in this class. He shouldn't screw things up too royally, or she might just kill him_. '

It was true enough. Sasuke was the best when it came to cooking, although he would never admit it to anyone. He was amazingly good and he loved to cook. He had learned to cook at a young age from his mother and he always added his own twist to things. He could balance flavors, and spice up any dish with the best of them. Sakura however went straight by the books. If it had a recipe with a good set of instructions, she could make it. The cooking for their rather odd family was always left up to Sasuke and Sakura, everyone agreed that it was always to die for.

"Alrighty then class, my name is Gainsborough Aerith, but you can all call me Aerith-sensei. As you all may know, only the most skilled students are selected for this class. I was asked to supervise this particular class due to my experience and recommendations." True to her word Aerith was a very well known chief. She had toured many countries, and won several awards all around the world.

"Today you will be working with your partner to make a cake. Now I know you normally go by recipes. But seeing how you all most likely finished this lesson I want to see how well you can make them on your own. Individuality as well as presentation will be a plus to your grade. Oh and please make sure your cake taste like a cake! That will come before all else." She finished with a cheerful smile and without further delay said, "Begin".

Naruto had fire in his eyes_, 'Yes a chance to finally have some fun!_'

As he started to pull things together from scratch he was grabbed by the shirt collar and a shrill voice rang in his ear, "What the hell are you doing! You never even covered this lesson and you're doing everything in the wrong order!"

Sakura looked pissed but Naruto tried to ignore her as he placed an egg in his right hand to crack on the side of the basin.

"You're going to get the shell in the batter like that!" Sakura shrieked once again, causing Naruto to flinch and breaking the egg in his hand in the process. The batter was ruined as he looked at the shell sitting inside there.

"Here, move aside before you screw anything else up!" Naruto was harshly pushed aside as Sakura took over the cake. He looked up from his egg covered had to look around the room. The entire class was sniggering or laughing out loud at the scene. Things like, "Can't the nerd do anything right?" or "What a screw up, he can't even make cake batter!" flew across the room.

Sasuke grimaced at the sound of her voice.

"Oi dobe" Sasuke called.

Naruto turned to Sasuke with hopeful pleading eyes. '_Maybe he'll save me from this she monster a.k.a Sakura_'.

But Sasuke wasn't about to do any such thing.

"Don't bother trying, wouldn't want the class to burn down now would we? Besides if you want a good grade leave it to Sakura since you seem incapable of doing anything right, Usuratonkachi." Sasuke paused before he rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes.

The class was in shock, did Sasuke just speak a whole sentence!

Now Sasuke didn't say that to hurt the idiot. No, he merely said that to pacify the strawberry blonde. He didn't think that his ears could take anymore screeching. If all it took was getting the boy outta the way to shut her the hell up, then by all means do whatever need be.

Sakura positively beamed at the compliment. Sasuke hardly ever complimented her but when he did, it made her more confident than ever.

Sasuke had already finished with his batter, it was in the oven. The freshly whipped cream was sitting there right next to the fresh chopped strawberries, and jam filling. And his work station was already cleaned!

Naruto felt his ears burn with embarrassment. Sasuke's comment made him feel a hundred times worse. He was humiliated and it wasn't even his fault. But he doubted anyone would believe him anyway. He moved his hand to push his glasses back up to its proper place because when Sakura shoved him they slid down his nose. He didn't even notice that it was the same hand covered with egg before it was too late.

Tears burned his eyes but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. Sakura was clutching her stomach because she was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down her face. Almost everyone in class was laughing hysterically at Naruto. Here had to be the ugliest child they had ever seen, he couldn't make cake batter, and his face was covered in egg. What the hell was he even doing in this class?

'_I screwed up again and it's only the first day! Maybe coming here was a bad idea..._'

The laughing almost instantly died down as the clicking of heels echoed across the floor. Naruto froze as he saw his sensei make her way over to him. She had hardened green eyes and a stern look adorned her pretty face.

'_She's probably coming over here to yell at me for disturbing her class on her first day here._' Naruto steeled himself for the yelling that would never come. He screwed his eyes shut and prayed that this would be over soon.

The chibi was startled when a gentle hand cupped his face and the dirty glasses were removed. A damp cloth carefully wiped away the egg as he looked into the smiling face of Aerith before she replaced the now clean glasses.

The class was shocked into silence. Even Sasuke looked puzzled at the strange exchange between the two.

In an instant her burning stare and harsh reprimands were let loose on the unsuspecting students. "That's enough out of all of you! What kind of elite students are you suppose to be? Is this the level of professionalism that this school brags about? You should be ashamed of yourselves, now get back to work!" The students now totally embarrassed scrambled to continue their work without setting of their teacher for a second time.

"Aerith-oneechan..."Naruto trailed off quietly for a moment forgetting the formalities.

"Naru-chan can you please make me your Coco Fever Chocolate mousse cake, onegai?" Aerith pleaded softly so nobody else could hear them, as she beamed at him.

Naruto blinked once, twice, and then a third time trying to process what the heck was going on. He slowly nodded as he was pulled to the teacher's workstation.

Everything was already laid out for him. He gave his teacher a puzzling look with one eyebrow raised and she giggled nervously. Then she sheepishly answered the silent question. "I was going to try to make it but I can never seem to make it the way you do."

She noticed the rest of the students were giving them odd looks. "Mina-san, do you really have time to watch us work? I mean, I heard that you guys were good but to finish a cake in 15 minutes is quite the feat!" Aerith sarcastically quipped.

Once again everyone was back to work.

(45 min later)

Ten different cakes were on display before the teacher. She walked around grading everyone on appearance first.

"Well guys your cakes all pass in the presentation department. Now the question is does it taste as good as it looks?"

She had every student hand out a small piece of their cake to the rest of the class as well as herself.

"Now everybody's cake is labeled with a different letter so you won't know which cake belongs to whom. The cakes will receive a mark out of ten. The marks you give each cake will be given to me and then I will add up the marks for each cake. Then the three cakes with the highest marking's team will be excused from homework for the rest of the week." She finished.

When everyone was finished grading the cakes the winners were not surprising at all, well all except for one.

The Strawberry Shortcake and the Coco Fever Chocolate Mousse cake were in a standoff. Every single student as well as the teacher gave the cakes a ten. The other two cakes that tied off were the Pineapple Vanilla cake, and the French Vanilla Buttercream cake.

Aerith decided to find out who the winners were. "Well then class time to unveil the chef's of these magnificent cakes. The Pineapple Vanilla cake belonged to Sakura. The French Vanilla Buttercream cake belonged to Hinata and Neji's team. And the Strawberry Shortcake belonged to Sasuke and Himiko's team."

Everyone was puzzled. Aerith said that there were three winners, and they were most defiantly sure that the Chocolate Mousse cake would win.

"Ano sa, Aerith sensei? Didn't the Chocolate Mousse cake win?" a student called out.

"Yes, it did." She answered with a smug smile on her face.

"Then how come the winner didn't get called?" another student questioned.

"That's because I said that only three teams would get the break, besides, his cake along with Sasuke's cake scored perfect scores. And his team had already won."

This only confused the crap out of the students more. Every team had a partner except for Sakura so the winner had to be... "Naruto..." Sakura wasn't even aware that she had spoken out loud. She was too shocked out of her mind to even think straight. _'How the hell did he make something that could rival Sasuke's cooking?_'

Sasuke was sure as hell surprised. '_How did an idiot like that come up with a recipe like that?'_

The blessed bell rang out and the student's rushed out of the class. They were allowed to take the remaining cake with them so Naruto had to rush in order to finish wrapping his master piece without ruining it.

* * *

Ginji's nerves were just about shattered. First period was hell and so was second. He had both periods with Midou Ban! The first period English teacher Umino Iruka; and second period history teacher Yuuhi Kurenai both sat him next to the nerve racking boy. Iruka was a transfer teacher from Mystic Embers so the class went a little rougher than expected... okay so maybe a little rougher was an understatement he couldn't get control of his class for almost half an hour!

Iruka was one of Ginji's adoptive parents. He felt really bad for him but he blamed it on his age. _'Its cause Iruka's looks so young'_.

He took all his credits at once and graduated college two years ahead of time. Not only was Iruka young but he was fairly good looking as well (4). He wore his chocolate brown hair in a ponytail and had bangs that framed his deep amber eyes on either side of his face. Most students didn't even believe he was a teacher. He had the appearance of an 18 or 19 year old so he spent more time rejecting playful offers for dates from smartass kids than teaching his class. Poor poor teacher, there was absolutely no respect for the young.

Ginji could almost swear that Ban nearly did succeed in boring holes in his head at one point. He tried to make conversation with him but he was too nervous to get even a word out. That and whenever he looked at the heartthrob he felt as if all the blood went rushing to his face. Ginji however, was determined to apologize properly for running into him earlier. He just couldn't figure out how and when though.

The music room was just around the corner now. The thought alone that he had this class with his otouto made him walk faster. The Manor was gigantanormous! Or at least Ginji thought so. He got lost so many times he was ready to cry in frustration.

'_I wonder how everything went for him so far?_' Worry?...Who him?... Of course not!...probably.

The brunet groaned as he realized that he once again made a wrong turn.

A slender hand tapped him on the shoulder just as he was about to shred the map into tiny little unrecognizable pieces.

"Would you like some help?" a gentle but warm voice asked.

Ginji turned around to meet the owner of the voice only to shy away at the sight before him a bit. Apparently Ban and Sasuke's group weren't the only gorgeous people around school. And that made him terribly self conscious and uneasy.

Ginji could deal with crowds as well as he could deal with individual people. But something about the way he looked didn't feel right to him anymore. It wasn't natural and he knew it. He didn't remember when he was younger... They were supposedly raised in an orphanage but a terrible accident about a year ago left them suffering from amnesia. He was always told that he and his otouto didn't fit in with the rest of the kids. Perhaps it was because they didn't fit in with the other kids that they let their appearances go.

They changed anything and everything, all physical aspects. They let their hair grow out and wore baggy clothes to hide behind. It helped immensely that they both had poor vision and needed outdated and oversized glasses to see at all. But now, somehow the change made him feel small, insignificant, and downright ugly. At first he liked being invisible, but then it just became lonely.

Briefly Ginji entertained the idea of what they might have looked like prior to the reformation. However in the end there was nothing the boys could do about it now. Their look had become part of who they were, and too much change all at once was a bitter scary pill to swallow.

"Ano I would really appreciate it...uuuhh" Ginji trailed off not knowing the boy's name."

"Neji, my name is Hyuuga Neji." The speaker had long silky raven hair and startling pale milky lavender eyes.

"And this..." Neji held up his hand which was currently interlaced with another.

"…is my _Sodalis _… err boyfriend-"

"Sabaku no Gaara," finished an icy yet deep smooth voice.

Ginji noted with surprise that this boy was as different as they came. He was very handsome though; he had blood red hair and pale mint green eyes that were heavily outlined. The Kanji for love stood out boldly on his forehead almost daring onlookers to stare. Oddly enough the two seem to complement each other well, one was a classic beauty and the other was oddly handsome. Upon closer scrutiny Ginji noted two odd orbs of light set in what had to be crystalized claws. The orbs were fascinating. In Gaara's and Neji's sphere a hazy lavender light and shimmery sepia dust swirled around aimlessly, the only difference being that Gaara's contained more shimmery sepia dust and Neji more hazy lavender.

Slowly taking in Gaara's looks again you could practically see the lights going off in the brunets head as made an odd connection.

"Are you related to a girl named Kairi?" He unthinkingly asked.

"Hai, she's my baby sister, what of it?" Gaara glared.

Ginji panicked, he didn't want to make anyone mad.

"Nothing I-I was just cu-curious was all!" came the stuttered defense. He seemed to shrink to a fourth his size in his panic.

Neji chuckled at the strange boy's antics. He was an interesting character all right. Was it even possible to turn into an actual chibi? Neji didn't dwell on that thought too long though.

"Ne, I didn't quite catch your name…" Humor lit the lavender orbs as he waited for a response.

"Amano Ginji" Ginji spoke with child like innocents and uncertainty as if he were going to be scolded for saying the wrong thing.

"Where were you headed to Ginji-san?" Neji quirked his brow in question as a sharp knowing glint entered his eyes. One that went completely unnoticed by the brunet, but not the red head unfortunately.

"The music room."

"Ah... sou ka, well we were on our way there to if you wish to accompany us."

Ginji was relieved.

"Hai Arigatou!" He was back to his normal height trailing after them within the blink of an eye.

* * *

Ginji departed from the two boys and walked toward the front of the room to await the teacher. Naruto almost ran into his brother because he thought he was late again.

"Gin-niichan! I forgot I had this class with you. I'm so happy to see you, you have no idea!" Naruto rested his head on his brother's shoulder breathing heavy.

"I take it you had a rough morning too."

"I have both classes with people that can't even look at me, and one with a guy that hates my guts, you do the math," Naruto snorted.

"Hates you? Who on earth could possibly hate you?" Ginji asked naively.

"Apparently a lot, some more than others though. Do you remember the guys we ran in to last night? Well the one I ran into... Uchiha Sasuke? ...He absolutely positively hates me!" Let it never be said that Uzumaki couldn't whine with the best of them.

He had no evidence to back that up, but of course him being Naruto, could only heed what the warning bells were trying to say. And yes the little voices inside his head did tell him that the boy was trouble.

All of a sudden a wicked grin spread across Ginji's face. "You like him!" he teased lightly.

Whispering harshly, Naruto promptly turned into a strawberry once again. "I do not!"

"Aaawww, kawaii!" Cue wicked grin.

Naruto scowled and was about to make a comeback but something caught his eye.

"Cloud-otousan! What in the seven hells are you doing here?" The raven all but screamed slamming into him simultaneously only to give him a hug tighter than the one he gave Aerith.

Now he was really confused. He had absolutely no idea his favorite teachers as well as guardians from his old school, would be popping up all over this school.

"That reminds me I had Iruka-tousan as my English teacher earlier."

"And I had Aerith-oneechan for my home-eckes teacher too."

Naruto and Ginji looked positively lost...which made Cloud chuckle. There were a few teachers who had transferred from Mystic Embers along with them, some on invitations and others on request.

Cloud tilted his head to the side to study the two boys in front of him. He and Iruka had adopted these boys and they were with them for quite a while now. Unfortunately he hadn't seen them for a few months because he and Iruka had to leave on official business.

"You would think that after changing schools you would get a makeover you two," Cloud snickered quietly so only his two 'sons' in front of him would hear.

He knew damn well and straight why the two were like this. And as much as it pained him to see them grow up like this, he would wait until they came to terms with their own issues first. (5) He and Iruka loved them too much to watch them get hurt again.

The brothers for the hundredth time today blushed. "Oh just shut it, already would you?" Naruto hissed. He was starting to fear that his face would get stuck that color.

Cloud turned to the rest of the class and quickly studied them. "Naru you will sit next to...hhmm lets see...ah I got it, Uchiha Sasuke and Gin go sit in the empty seat in between Sasuke and Ban.

The youngest of the pair looked as if he suddenly developed a nervous twitch in his eye and was about to commit bloody murder while the eldest looked like he was about to burst into tears.

"Can we please have another seat?" Naruto's teeth clenching wasn't very good therapy but it helped….

"Sorry but those are the only two available. You guys did transfer half way into the semester so the class was already full." Cloud scratched the back of his head apologetically. Apparently that little gesture was something that had rubbed off from Cloud.

…or not.

As the boys headed to their seats they refused to make eye contact with anyone. They missed however the hungry looks that were directed towards their father figure.

Cloud swallowed harshly, '_Crap not again...'_

He steeled himself against the horrifying attempts the girls and some boys made to flirt with him, and continued his announcements.

"As you may all know, the Battle of the bands competition is coming up in the school and we have to prepare you for it. I know that all of you are not participating in it so whoever isn't involved with it will be used as the technical support. The competition is only a few weeks away so we will spend the time we have in the class putting together the performances. Any questions?" Skimming the room for any raised hands he saw a very distraught looking duo.

"That's not fair we don't have enough time to prepare!" Naruto was livid. This had to be the worst day in the entire history of forever.

Just before Cloud was about to respond Shido and Ban beat him to it.

"And just what the hell are you two planning to play for us?"

Naruto and Ginji could only look forward their face's full of shock. They couldn't even respond as they noticed all the jeering eyes pinning them to their seats.

_Ten..._

"A flute?..."

_Nine..._

"A piano?"

_Eight..._

"Or maybe perhaps, a violin?" Ban spoke amused,the rest of the class readily agreeing with him.

_Seven..._

"This is a show for people who can use instruments like drums…"

_Six_...

"…guitars…"

_Five_...

"…synchronizers…"

_Four_...

"…and can sing."

_Three_...

"Not that crap you call music in your damn stuck up snob school."

_Two_...

"Classical music and opera don't cut it." Shido's voice echoed softly around the room. Sakura, Ino, and Shido looked at them in the most condescending manner possible.

_One..._

_**CRASH!**_

Naruto stood up so fast his chair fell backwards. They couldn't see his eyes because he was looking to the floor and his overgrown raven locks shielded his face. He body was trembling with rage. _'I've had it! Screw the damn promise, I don't care anymore! These assholes deserve what's coming to them!' _

"That is it! What the fuck is your problem? We didn't do anything to you so _why_ the _hell_ are you after us for?" Naruto had been very patient up until then. But being defenseless was never an easy task.

And his pride was hurt.

Unfortunately for Naruto, his anger was very amusing to the rest of the class so they all burst out laughing and not for the first time today. This only seemed to piss him off even more.

'_Shit this isn't good. If he gets really mad then he might just kill somebody!_' Ginji panicked. _'What to do? What to do? Damnit I need some way to calm him down before things get out of control!' _

Too late...

"Isn't that cute? The dobes' all pissed off. What 'cha gonna do? Cry again?"

Sasuke didn't know why he was teasing the boy. It wasn't like him. He was a quiet reserved person, and normally just ignored the whole world with the exception of his twisted little family. But there was something about this boy, something that irked him so bad but he couldn't put his finger on it. That and it was pretty damn obvious that the guy had a crush on him. He only changed a hundred different shades of red whenever Sasuke looked at him.

'_Hn another pathetic excuse of a fan member. Maybe I really should impale him on the flag pole._'

Naruto was in front of him in less than a second. He grabbed his shirt collar and jerked his whole body forward.

"Teme! Who the hell do you think you ar..."

Naruto never got to finish because he soon found himself sailing across the floor.

He curled into himself as full realization dawned on him...Sasuke had just socked him in the gut...Hard.

"Watch where you put your hands Uzumaki, especially if you like them attached to the rest of your body" Sasuke's face was once again impassive the only thing giving him away was the small irritation swimming in his eyes.

Naruto slowly stood up and the air around him seemed to spark to life. Only a handful of people in the room recognizing it for what it was. And before anyone had time to panic or act on instinct, two pairs of arms encircled Naruto. His face was buried in a warm firm chest as a soothing voice coaxed him to relax.

"Musuko (son) calm down, ssshhh it's okay, relax." Clouds words washed over him and it seemed to do the trick as Naruto's harsh breath's evened out.

"Ginji I want you to take him out so he can cool off a bit." Cloud spoke to his other son currently holding him as well.

With one last squeeze, the teacher gently ushered them out the door. He then turned to the class with steel in his eyes.

'_I can't even do anything to those brats. It's not my place...'_

"Midou... Uchiha I advise you to keep your subordinates under control. And learning to exercise some self-control yourselves wouldn't hurt either. One would wonder how you intent to control others when you fail to control yourselves." (6) Turning his back, he walked towards the front of the room once again.

"Now then class I suggest that you get your bands together and start putting together the songs that you're performing."

With that said he let his thoughts drift away to Naruto. '_I wonder if he's okay...'_

(one hour later...)

"Aniki do you believe them! That god damn, egotistical, no good, sneaky, idiotic, conniving, evil, shallow minded, sick, dumbass, twisted, depraved, loser, wanna be, queer- who's a spoiled, pantsy, retarded, rotten, narcissistic, jerk off, know it all, freakish, moron, stuck up, bitchy, asshole, brain dead, turd, prick, drag queen of a bastard with a stick shoved up his ass hit me! I swear to the fucking devil I'm gonna castrate his sorry ass! Then I'm gonna skin him alive and stake his corpse on the friggin fence!..."

"...Naru-chan breathe" Chibi Ginji was running back and forth once again trying to calm his otouto down. How could he say that all in one breath? The world may never know.

Naruto was pacing in the court yard... Naruto's _been_ pacing in the court yard...he walked the same line more times than Ginji cared to count...the court yard by all means should have formed a _ditch_ by now... miraculously it didn't.

'_Oh well at least he's a bit more calm now._' Ginji sweatdropped.

The fuming brunet looked like he was about to go for another round when another voice interrupted them.

"My, my what an extensive vocabulary we have."

Naruto was greeted with said _bastard with a stick shoved up his ass's _smirking face. And the little ball of rage flared all over again.

"No, _we _don't have anything, _I _have an extensive vocabulary... _you_, you sorry ass..."

"Save your breath usuratonkachi, there are just two types of people in this world that you should never argue with, an idiot and a fanatic. And you dobe most defiantly fit into the aforementioned one, if not both categories.

As Sasuke walked away, brown eyes blinked in confusion. "What...just happened?..."

"I think he just called you an idiot, though I might be wrong." Ban said coming from behind. It was then that Ginji became aware that class had let out and it was their break period. The chibi caught himself staring and scolded himself once again. With a quick apology Ginji excused themselves from there. He grabbed Naruto's hand and started pushing his way through the ridiculous amount of fan girls fawning around Midou Ban.

"Matte Ginji, do you have a moment to speak?" Midou's sharp eyes peered over his glasses, looking Ginji square in the eye, or what was visible of it at least.

Ginji could only nod in fear of his voice coming out squeaky and high. "Naru-chan, do you mind?" Ginji said apologetically when he turned to his brother.

"Yes I do!" was the huffy reply he received.

"Otouto, all I need is just a few minutes to straighten things out." Giving his brother his hundred watt smile, a soft kiss to his forehead sealed the deal.

Naruto could only look at him with understanding eyes and offer him a nod and a quick hug.

* * *

It was their lunch break and most of the students chose to eat their lunch outside because the weather had warmed up considerably despite the season and darkened skies.

A certain pouting raven was making his way around the yard scanning it for his new found friends when a mocking voice made him stop in his tracks.

"Well if it isn't the little runt. It's impolite to run away from someone when you're about to get your ass kicked."

A hand suddenly gripped his neck and raised his body several feet in the air causing him to choke and sputter for breath.

Naruto barely had time to survey his surroundings but what he saw wasn't very welcoming. '_Dammit I have to do something!... But I promised Aniki no more fights...Get a hold of yourself man! You're about to die from freakin' lack of oxygen, I think this time counts as an exception!'_

* * *

Ginji had survived! He actually spoke to Ban without embarrassing himself...well not too much anyway. Ginji was a very laidback, not to mention forgiving person. When Ban asked him over he was wary of the gang but he quickly forgave them as the conversation carried on.

Midou Ban was a very calculating person. You could tell by the way he moved and talked. Naturally one could mistake this for boredom but Ginji knew better. He was currently sitting at the table with Ban and his crew, and he was so nervous he almost felt nauseous. Never had he seen such...such... exotic people! And here they were all sitting in front or next to him.

'_Maybe Naru-chan and I had them wrong after all,'_ he thought happily.

They asked him normal questions about his old school and a few things about the new school as well. When they got around to the topic of Zabuza Ginji suddenly had a dead weight feeling in his chest.

'_Nani? Something doesn't feel right'_ His breathing increased rapidly.

"So Ginji-san what were you running from last night?" Riku asked genuinely interested. The guy wasn't half bad Riku thought. He was mildly entertaining and they were acquainting themselves with the prey.

"Ano sa, you see well apparently we angered one of the seniors and he..." Ginji's words trailed off as he stared horrified and shocked to the core (no pun intended) at something past Ino's shoulder. The group turned around to see what exactly made the boy stop mid-sentence. What they saw stunned most of them.

Ginji stared unable to get his body to move_. 'MOVE GOD DAMNIT!_' he thought frantically as he watched helplessly as his brother was slowly being choked to death.

"_Fight back_…" the voice was small, choked, and unintentional as it left the mostly paralyzed lips.

The unexpected sound of his rasp jumpstarted his fight or flight response. The moment he got movements in his limbs he was off running over to his otouto cursing his damn legs which betrayed him.

The Hebi gang remained seated unsure of what to do.

"He's never going to make it in time." Sakura panicked. Sure she had her differences with him but she didn't want him dead! Even if it was someone she strongly disliked she didn't wish death upon him.

Riku vaulted his body straight over the table and took off towards the flailing mass. He missed the surprised looks on their faces but they wasted no time in taking off after him anyways.

'_Fucking idiot, didn't we warn them that these two were off limits? We can't let them die until we figure out what the hell is up with them!' _

Riku pushed himself forward ready to go for an all out sprint. He was track star so the distance wasn't really far at all if he applied himself.

All of a sudden Zabuza was on the ground, a brown and white blur knocking him straight off his feet. The silverret stopped dead in his tracks '_What the hell was that?_'

* * *

As quick as he went down he was back up again. Zabuza was seething with rage and it didn't help at all that his pride took a blow.

When he looked about he almost missed the cinnamon brown hair right below him. There standing in front of him was the most innocent looking child he had ever seen. Surely this wasn't the brat who had slipped past his defenses...but then again...

There was fire burning in the sapphire gems.

"And who the hell are you suppose to be?" he ground out.

The boy simply smiled and replied cheerfully, "Tsukimi Sora" while ending with a small two finger salute.

And before Zabuza could blink he was being hammered once again. He didn't even have time to attack, he was too busy blocking. The kid hardly looked like he put any effort into it and he was so damn fast not to mention flexible. Before Zabuza realized it, the boy named Sora slipped into his defenses once again, and landed a swift smooth uppercut to his jaw.

He landed with a resounding thud on the floor and was unable to move. The rest of his gang was amazed at how fast this cherubic looking child took out one of the best fighters in the school, but that served to anger the gang even more. They were going to beat that child bloody for the humiliation he put them through! The eight remaining fighters charged Sora all at once. Lazily Sora turned his head to them as a soft chime rung through the air. Everyone seemed to have been frozen in their place.

"Oi sorry I'm late. I didn't expect it to take so long to find my locker." A soft downy almost effeminate like voice called out.

"No worries Kazuki-niichan I could have taken them so no worries." Sora turned to the dazed looking boy rising from the floor and quietly walked over to him. His face broke out into the hugest smile and he flung himself forward to tackle the unsuspecting boy right back to the ground.

"Naru-niichan I missed you sssoooo much!" Sora said in a sing song voice. Kazuki waited until Sora released his victim before enveloping him in a hug of his own.

"How've you been Naru-niichan?" Kazuki whispered.

"Oh just fine! I was only relearning how long I could hold my breath for." Sarcasm was ones best friend in a situation like this. The raven attempted fixing his now crooked glasses.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be...supposed to be...gone." Naruto looked up at the two as though they would disappear any second.

Naruto, Ginji, Sora, and Kazuki had been together since the beginning of forever. Okay well that was a lie...Ginji and Naruto had no recollection of their past up until a year ago, but from the time they could remember it had always been the six of them. Cloud and Iruka had adopted Sora before Kazuki joined the picture... and well, stayed there.

But about a month ago word had come to them that Kazuki's family was located and he was to move back home. Sora went with Kazuki to make sure he would be safe and he wouldn't be too lonely. That was the last they saw of the two. Even though they spoke to each other every day, it was sad, depressing, and lonely with their two brothers missing. But here they were...

* * *

Ginji saw it but he didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. It was impossible, they were gone... they were supposed to be gone.

He blinked, and blinked again, and then he dashed straight to his long lost siblings. When he got there he dropped to his knees and immediately began to inspect Naruto. "I'm so sorry I shouldn't have left you alone. This is all my fault!"

When Naruto made him stop fussing he turned to see the amused faces of his other younger 'brothers'. He threw his arms around both of them practically yelling "I missed you sssoooo much!" unknowingly mimicking Sora. Those two had always been alike, too alike sometimes it seemed.

Sora's laughter filled the quiet as they all sat around in a small circle completely ignoring all the attention they were receiving.

"Ano, Kazu-niichan? What are we going to do with them? Sora pointed to the frozen boys.

"Oops I almost forgot!" It was then that the students finally noticed all the strings wrapped around them. How in blue blazes did those get there?

The Fuchoin String style was a sacred art that very few people ever mastered. Kazuki just happened to be one of the only ones to fully master the technique.

Kazuki stared at them with cold indifferent eyes and spoke in a curt and clipped tone. "You will leave now and take this monstrosity with you..." looking over to where Zabuza lay as he spoke. "…and if you so much as lay a finger on my brothers I will not hesitate in making you regret it for the rest of your lives." With that he swiftly twitched the bells held between his fingers and the string was released. The teens quickly scrambled towards Zabuza and dragged him away fearing for their lives.

As he made his way back to the others he noticed a strange thrill flow through his body. Not to mention the feeling of several eyes upon him. But he refused to look. Why should he bother anyways? He had more important things to do.

"Gomenasai I didn't mean to make you wait like that."

"What are you guys doing here I thought that you were happy with your new family..." Naruto said, his voice tinted in sadness.

"I know! When are you guys going back, so that way we can make the most of our time together!" Ginji tried to be the optimistic one as always.

"Ne, Aniki what do you mean make the most of our time?" Sora asked generally confused.

"Well I want to be able to spend as much time together as possible before you go back to your real family... ooowww!" Ginji wailed clutching his head. Kazuki had whacked him a good one.

"Baka you are our '_real'_ family, that's why we came back." Kazuki's face instantly lit up in a bright smile with the thought of things going back to normal once again.

"We're here to stay, and you can't get rid of us!" Sora shook his head for extra emphasis on his words.

"Our lunch is getting cold so we better start eating." Naruto beamed.

"Kuso, I forgot to pack our lunches!" Kazuki slapped his hand to his forehead making the movement look rather graceful.

"AGAIN!" Sora wailed on the verge of tears.

"You're trying to starve me, aren't you Kazu-niichan! Then you wonder why I'm so small!" Sora pointed an accusing finger at the offender.

"Demo Sora-chan I thought that you had a fast metabolism, plus you eat like a horse..." Ginji scratched his head, this time he really was confused.

"Mau I do not eat like a horse Aniki no baka!" Sora whined.

Naruto sighed shaking his head. "How did you survive a whole month without me? Here eat up." Naruto then pulled out a dish from nowhere and laid it out in front of everyone. The four of them shared their lunch while catching up on whatever they missed still completely ignoring all the people who had refused to fully leave them alone. Even the Hebi members stuck close out of sheer curiosity.

"Cake! Cake! Cake! I missed having Naru-niichan's food!" Sora cried as Naruto presented his master piece to everyone.

"You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to make this stupid thing!"

"What do you mean Naru-Niichan?"

"Well first of all you wouldn't guess who the cooking instructor is..."

* * *

"Sugoi! Did you see that! Sakura cried. "Kazuki-san is so beautiful...almost as much as my Sasuke-kun!"

"He's so kawaii! He has eyes like Ban-kun! And his hair makes him all the more adorable..." Riku let Ino's voice fade away as he thought about the boy from earlier.

'_So they were the other two Neji was talking about... They're much more attractive than the others. Not to mention strong. I wonder how that boy, Kazuki, used thread like that though. Could it be possible that he's one of...no that's highly unlikely, it didn't feel like that...Something similar perhaps? And the other one, Sora...He's amazing as well not to mention cute. I wonder what else he can do._'

Riku's mind continued to plague him with thought's of the younger boys. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to know about them. Especially Sora, there was this type of innocence that radiated from him.

"You guys are awfully quiet." Ban looked at Riku and Shido with that quizzical look of his.

"Quite an interesting bunch of guys don't you think?" Shido had an inquisitive faraway look to him.

"What I wonder though is, what are guys like Kazuki and Sora doing hanging around the nerds? They obviously have more potential than Naruto and Ginji." Sakura questioned as Shido paused for a moment to think on it.

* * *

Sasuke was zoning out again. What else was new? Well, the fact that four strangers inhabited his thoughts was certainly new. One in particular, Uzumaki Naruto had his mind going in loops.

'_Naruto'_ Sasuke scoffed. '_What a joke he can't even protect himself, he deserved whatever was coming to him.'_

Then... why?

Why did it annoy him to no end to see Naruto hanging in the air like that? Why did it bother him so much that the boy almost had his death handed to him?

'_It's because I didn't figure him out yet that's why...It's because he's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what!'_ That's what he told himself anyway. It didn't explain the wave of panic he felt for that split second though. It may have not shown on his face but it was certainly there, it was gone almost as fast as it came.

'_I think I can figure this thing out sooner rather than later. All I have to do is get the boy to open up to me...But how, think dammit! Another stupid fanboy that I can't do a damn thing wit... fanboy...that's it! A little flirting never hurt anyone. Plus how hard can it be to get him to open up? He's already practically throwing himself at me.' _

The Uchiha smirked, his eyes lit up with mischief. Oh the perverse little pleasure he would get out of this...

* * *

"...And so end's the tale of Naruto and Ginji." Naruto finished with a huff. It had taken a while but they managed to fit in the entire evenings' and mornings event in one semi short story.

"Oh I think their gang is called Shimagara No Hebi. I have no idea how large their gang is but they're all snobby from the ones I met."

Looking thoughtful for a moment he paused before adding, "I don't like them at all!"

Kazuki was quiet before asking, "So when do we get the pleasure of meeting them?"

"WHA..." Naruto was about to scream when he saw the sadistic little smile placed on Kazuki and Sora's perfect cupid bow lips.

"Oh! Hehe sorry you can see them on the way to class."

'_Let me see if I got this right...Sakura, Ino, Shido, Riku, Sasuke, and Ban were all picking on Naru and Gin-niichan... Damn assholes messed with the wrong family_.' Kazuki fumed internally without a single expression indicating so on the outside.

"Let's go before we're late for class" Ginji suggested.

"Hai!" was the chorus of everyone's reply.

It wasn't long before they spotted the group lounging around somebody's locker. It was the only real change made in the 'school' to accommodate the students. They stopped about 15 feet away so that way the two younger members could get a good look at the enemy.

Kazuki was fighting the urge not to blush but was losing horribly as well as Sora. They knew that Naruto said they were good looking but these guys were beyond hot...and they just oozed sex appeal.

Kazuki was the first to snap out of it when he saw the boy they described as Shido smirk at him. He instantly glared right back at him but it was hard to keep an expressionless face when somebody like Shido was eying you down. So he instead chose to keep on walking.

Sora on the other hand thought that he was going to melt into a puddle of Sora-goo when the gorgeous enigma known as 'Riku' locked eyes with him. His body language screamed confidence and Sora knew this guy was way out of his league. Then he remembered that this guy was part of the 'bad guy problem' and did the only thing a boy like Sora could do. He stuck his tongue out and ran right afterward. He then proceeded to jump on Naruto's back and bury his face in the crook of his neck willing the blush away. Naruto lost balance for a moment but quickly regained it and placed his hands under Sora's knees in order to support the youngest one. They made quite a sight, Sora was a bit taller than his older brother, and who knew Naruto had any strength at all?

All of a sudden Sora felt very cold. Like all the warmth was drained from his body only to be replaced by an icy chill that flowed through his veins.

His head shot up looking for the source of his discomfort. But upon finding nothing there he burrowed deeper into Naruto's back seeking his warmth.

'_How strange_...'the absentminded thought was forgotten not long after.

* * *

Ino and Sakura squealed at how absolutely adorable and sexy Sora and Kazuki were but it immediately stopped as they saw their _cutie_ get a piggy back ride from _the thing_. (Which _was_ a bit funny all things considering. Sora was a few inches taller than Naruto from what they could see.) They scowled darkly at Naruto as though he were the perpetrator.

Riku's eyes were still wide open at the simple childish act Sora pulled and felt a small smile grace his lips.

If only the boys knew what they were getting themselves into...

...maybe they wouldn't be smiling so much anymore.

* * *

Side Notes

1) Neji is the person in charge of getting information.

2) Not too sure on the spelling but it's cooking class.

3) I got the idea for their necklaces from FFXIII Serah and Snow's engagement necklace.

4) Imagine Iruka in his teen year's people. I don't remember the episode but when he was young and the Sandaime Hokage took care of him he looked cute to me. Maybe not as hot as the younger generation but decent nonetheless. Besides we've all got imaginations, picture him with bigger eyes and longer bangs!

5) I changed the plot a bit. Iruka and cloud have nothing to do with their appearances.

6) Cloud knows about all the gangs.

I didn't know where to stick this but **Sodalis** was the best Latin translation I was getting for soul mate. It's more accurate to say it means 'companion' but a soul mate is a companion so it's redundant. Plus I **know** Latin isn't the oldest language. It's just more convient then creating my own or finding dead languages.

Author's notes: A couple things changed in this chapter, jewelry which signified status for one thing. And if you guys can't picture their jewelry then just go to google images and type in 'Snake Jewelry'. Same goes for their clothes.

Umm I took out Shino because there are way too many characters in this fic as of right now. If anyone request him I'll throw him in later promise.

Also I fixed the inconsistencies with their disguises. I hope I got it all. The biggest change of all is that I took out the part about Cloud and Iruka changing their appearances. It should jive better with the rest of the story. If you don't know what I'm talking about don't worry about it.


	4. The Unexpected

_**Author's Note**_: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.

_**Cue Music:**_ Muse- Take A Bow~ Symphonic/Original Mix

* * *

The dreary light steadily poured in from the parted blinds to bathe the room in shadows.

As if sensing the change, the lump on the bed scowled slightly and threw the covers over his head while curling into a tight ball. He settled down once again with a soft sigh and continued to slumber completely oblivious to the dark figure hovering over his bed.

Poke...

The lump on the bed twisted a bit before settling down yet again.

Poke...

The covers were slowly peeled away from the lumps head so the victim's reaction could be observed.

A frown marred the sleepers face as it flopped over to the other side.

Poke...poke...

A hand tried in vain to swat the annoying...the annoying...whatever it was that dared disturb its sleep.

A stifled giggle caused the lump to stir a bit more as confusion washed over his slowly awakening senses. Before the victim had time to relay the message '_danger_' to his sleep clouded brain, his attacker pounced.

His sides were furiously attacked with quick nimble fingers without warning leaving him breathless.

"Naru-niichan you have to get up or you'll be late," a singsong voice called out.

"Hahaaha...gasp..Sora...hah..st..stop haha!" Naruto tried to let out between fits of laughter. His sides were aching from the torture it received as he squirmed about.

Naruto quickly rolled them both over using sheer force of will at the moment. They landed with an almost silent thud on the floor.

Ginji choose that moment to enter the room to wake his brother. But upon closer inspection discovered that the occupant of the bed was missing, along with his blanket, and his pillows, and half of his...bed sheets?

Ginji climbed on the bed to further inspect 'The case of the missing Naruto', when he heard yelps from the side of the bed. He stuck his head out a bit to see what was making the noise and was greeted with a highly amusing sight.

"Ne, otouto what are you doing down there?" The brunette still looked very confused as he stared down into a jumble of blankets where limbs were protruding at all sorts of weird angles. _'When did Naru-chan grow an extra leg?'_

"Oh, ya know, counting stars." For a moment Naruto went crossed eyed and wore a look of utmost concentration.

The mound started moving as a head of cinnamon brown spikes emerged pouting, it crawled away from the mess of blankets and sat there for a moment.

"Naru-niichan that was mean!" Sora said in a huff.

"And I suppose you were being a perfect saint?" Naruto was trying to make the stars go away by vigorously shaking his head while sitting up...'_whoa, bad idea_.'

Sora sniggered lightly and pranced around him.

"You've got ten minutes to get dressed!"

At this news a look of panic and horror was passed between Naruto and Ginji. Then without a word both of them scrambled up and made a mad dash towards the bathroom.

* * *

Sasuke sighed and blocked the teacher's droning voice out. This was really starting to grate on his nerves. He tried once again to ignore the argument taking place next to him.

'_Is it really that difficult to decide on a few songs?' _He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

All the bands had hauled their groups to different corners of the room, and Sasuke just _had_ to choose one where he could stare out the window.

The entire morning seemed to reflect off of his mood. It was dark out... and not just the, 'clouds floating across the sun dark either', it was the 'sun was swallowed whole by the sky' dark. And it felt like they were in for a heavy down pour.

Strange?

Very...

It made Sasuke wonder if somebody screwed around with the alarm clocks. But then again, his biological clock told him otherwise. It was already third band music and the brooding teenager wanted nothing more than to escape this prison people called school.

'_Stupid Aniki and his moronic rules! It isn't even necessary for us to be here damnit!'_

Apparently those weren't the only things on his mind this morning however.

'_When the hell did those idiots move into our wing? That entire section belonged to us, it doesn't make sense...'_

It was a well known fact that the Hebi gang inhabited an entire wing of the Manor. And the leaders had their own top floor to ensure privacy.

When Sasuke decided to find out the reason why there were students placed there, he was simply told that the school had no more vacant rooms left to offer the teens. So they had to be put in the only wing that had empty rooms...theirs.

The back of all Sasuke's senses prickled with the heavy air that surrounded him. He turned his head slightly to his right to watch his family still bicker.

A head was gently placed on his shoulder and Sasuke immediately tensed. He turned around annoyed, fully intending to yell at Sakura to get off. However when a silvery tress came into view he relaxed once again and paced his head on top of the other, continuing to stare off into space. He must have been really out of it if he was mistaking people so horribly.

"You know all that zoning out you've been doing lately can't be good for your health." Drawling the voice whispered teasingly.

"Hn."

The figure grew tense for a moment, and then spoke once again all trace of humor gone.

"Niisan, I don't like this at all this...this feeling...It's horrible, the air is so heavy it feels like your breathing in lead." Riku whispered lower to ensure privacy.

"I know Ri-otou (1)...its weird, but nothing is out of place as of yet." Sasuke spoke for the first time.

If it was one thing that Sasuke couldn't stand it was being read like an open book. He liked to keep his private thoughts private. But sometimes it seemed impossible with the company he kept. There were only three people he knew of that had that ability to do so, and surprisingly enough the third person wasn't Shido (who by the way wasn't too far behind).

Sasuke found his eyes wondering across the room again. _'Why does the idiot have to be so loud?'_

* * *

"Ne, otouto he's looking at you again." Ginji playfully joked.

"Aniki! Would you stop that!" Naruto gritted out furiously trying to fight the scowl off his face.

He turned his head slightly, locked eyes with the obsidian staring back at him and glared through his glasses before returning to the task at hand.

"Kazu-chan did you finish with the arrangement for the first song?" Ginji seeing his brother's quickly arriving foul mood changed the topic.

'_He's so stubborn, but I suppose its best like this. Uchiha-san looks like trouble...then again so does Midou-san_.' As if sensing his thoughts, Ginji yet again felt the eyes drilling holes in the back of his head.

He shivered despite his warm attire fighting his natural instincts to go chibi.

'_Yep trouble with a capital T,' _he thought glumly.

"Ne, Gin-niichan, could I ask you a question?" Sora looked up and glanced at the other three boys.

"Ask away So-chan(2)," He answered with a bright smile.

"Why is it so uncommon to find anything other than brunets in our old neighborhood, but here everyone's so...different?" Sora wore an inquisitive look on his face as he struggled to articulate his thoughts.

Actually it had been bothering Ginji too but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

"I don't know So-chan but I rather like the change" Ginji offered a grin and left the question unanswered.

Sora wanted an answer and that wasn't it, it seemed. He looked as if he was about to ask another difficult to answer question in hopes of sating his curiosity. But Kazuki beat him to it.

"Ne, Sora-chan, Cloud and Iruka wanted to steer clear of trouble so they moved to the safest neighborhood they could find. That's all, and it just so happened to be a stereotypical neighborhood. Brunets are more common to find in the long run Especially in Traverse town. Not many people are born with naturally different color hair around that area."

"Oh," was all Sora could say. It seemed more like _no one_ was born with different hair color in Sora's opinion.

"Hey guys the first part is done, why don't we start on part two?" Kazuki's cheerful demeanor washed away all odd questions drifting about the boys head.

Naruto's face lit up as he almost jumped out of his seat. "I've got the perfect lyrics for the next one you guys! I've been working on this one for a while." The words tumbled out of his mouth like a waterfall, and his energetic personality fueling his brothers despite everything.

"The lyrics go something like this..."

* * *

Cloud sighed as he leaned back in his chair slouching slightly mumbling under his breath, "Why did I take this job? I'm practically begging to be kidnapped or raped or..."

'…_or both,' his_ mind supplied helpfully.

It was finally lunch and one of Clouds breaks. He wanted nothing more than to sleep after running from two-thirds of the schools female population not to mention the group of boys that decided to tag along.

Cloud couldn't help but sympathize with a few of his students that seemed to suffer from the same problem as him. Sasuke, Ban, Riku and Shido took off like the devil was on their heels when the bell rang.

But he wasn't that lucky, the devil it seemed... was a sadistic bitch.

He sent the one thing feared more than himself... fangirls... But then again the boys always seemed to disappear before the leeches attached themselves. The blonde was tempted to ask them their secret. Gaara and Neji had a simple solution; Neji clung to Gaara's arm while Gaara coldly turned everyone away. After all, no matter how attractive the boys were, nobody dared test that killing aura Gaara had around him.

Which just so happened to be the reason he was pissed in the first place. The man did not wear a sign that said 'cuddle me'. Nor did he scream 'worship the ground I walk on.' Yet for the past few days it'd been nothing but people fawning all over him!

No amount of glaring or swearing could rid him of the human leeches. And it was damn unfair that the same approach worked for two high school students!

Cloud sighed as he let his guard down a little deeming the place safe enough. As his thoughts finally fell on his 'children', he smiled almost imperceptibly. He barely had time to hug them when Naruto and Ginji had grabbed their younger siblings hands and made a mad dash to god knows where. And in their hurry the boys almost forgot to call out their good byes.

Sora and Kazuki had finally returned. When he heard about the boy's departure he was depressed for weeks on end with the knowledge that he wouldn't see the boys for god knows how long. Cloud knew Sora would be back, the boy could only stay away from Naruto and Ginji for so long before he came running back. But he was more than grateful that Kazuki had decided to come back as well.

'_They balance each other out perfectly... from the childish and responsible; to the stubborn and protective; to the calm and collected; to the hyper and loving.' (3)_

He briefly paused in his musings and wondered if hiding in the teachers lounge was such a good idea, after all students may have been prohibited but by no means was the room off limits to the female teachers. He shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself.

"I didn't think it was that cold in here." Deep suave and rich the voice spoke from behind him; it sent shivers running up and down his spine but for a whole other reason.

'_Damnit I knew this was too good to be true.' _The instructor thought in exasperation choosing not to answer, whilst at the same time preparing to make a run for it if necessary.

Cloud sat up in the couch and turned his head just in time to see the back of the stranger heading over to the table where the hot beverages were set up to serve.

The male was tall and had hazelnut hair with natural lowlights that ended at the nape of his neck where the layers gently flipped out. (4) He was wearing black fitted dress pants that had a few chain belts decorating his slightly curved hips and a dark gray ribbed long sleeve sweater which had the sleeves folded half way up his arm. The male was muscular yet lean, his shoulders slightly broader than Clouds. Cloud, suddenly aware of his eyes wondering the slim but powerful form, sharply turned away.

In order to distract himself, he concentrated on the view ahead. One of the advantages of the Manor was the location; it sat up on a hill. The teachers lounge room was on the third floor, so from the large bay windows one could get a full view of the lake and forest below.

Cloud shivered again, _'God damnit it's freezing in here!' _

He silently toed his shoes off by the foot of the couch and brought his legs up to his chest deeming the stranger safe for the moment. It didn't seem like the man was paying him any attention anymore. He then proceeded to wrap a large fleece throw blanket around his body that he discovered earlier.

'_You would think that this place could afford some heat for all its worth.' _

Cloud was startled out of his thoughts when a cup of hot chocolate was placed in front of his view. His eyes traveled the length of the arm only to come into view with a very solid looking chest. Cloud could feel his mouth go dry and tried in vain to wet his lips. He finally brought his gaze upward and his breath hitched in his throat.

'_Gorgeous...'_

Was only one of many adjectives running through his mind at the moment, while trying to find the right one to describe the man in front of him. They all fell short somehow.

He stared into the stormy grey eyes, trying to subconsciously memorize his face. He had a pale yet slightly tan complexion, and a light scar running across the bridge of his nose slanted a bit towards the left which only seemed to add character. A look of indifference adorned his handsome face as he looked right back at Cloud.

Cloud, too lost in his musings, didn't realize what he was doing but apparently the stranger did as a smirk graced his sensuous lips.

"You seem to be new around here; I don't think I'd ever forget a face like yours." The brunet spoke again, smirk slowly fading away.

Once again the instructor was snapped out of his musings as his brain tried to process what was meant. And once he did, he gave an inquisitive look at the implications of those words.

He regarded the drink warily before his hand snaked out of the blanket to accept the cup of hot chocolate.

"Thank you... and I just started work here a few days ago." He offered softly with a slight turn of his own lip.

Cloud's expressionless face turned once again to stare at the scene before him.

The brunet took a seat next to Cloud allowing his back to brace on the arm rest. He followed the formers example, toed off his black ankle boots, then he drew one of his knees up to his chest with an arm wrapped around it and proceeded to sip his own hot chocolate.

"Is there a name to go with the new face?" The stranger asked.

The blonde was glad he didn't have anything in his mouth or else he might have choked. For the first time since he could remember, he was nervous. '_What's wrong with me?' _he thought harshly.

"Cloud, it's nice to meet you er..." Cloud extended his hand but faulted halfway when he realized he didn't know the handsome man's name.

"Leon, it's a pleasure as well," Leon grabbed his hand in a firm shake.

Cloud was surprised at the touch, he had very soft skin.

Leon studied the boy in front of him. _'Cute, but he seems so young, like he's not a day over nineteen... Still, the kid has to be pretty smart to land a job here of all places.' _It somehow evaded his attention that he didn't look all that much older himself.

Leon stared out the window wondering absently why th_e_ heat wouldn't seem to go on before focusing on Cloud once again. He looked like he was ready to bolt at any given moment; he quirked an eyebrow at this.

"Why do you seem like your expecting to be attacked?" He asked mildly curious...this boy was strange.

"They're everywhere, they're trying to get me..." Cloud whispered absentmindedly eyes shifting about warily.

The blonde, just realizing what slipped out of his mouth, was about to let out a string of very colorful obscenities as he turned to Leon with a wide eyed expression on his other wise stoic face.

'_Smooth genius...real smooth, now he probably thinks you're a paranoid weirdo..._'

And upon spotting Leon with an amused look as well as a delicately arched eyebrow...he found himself furiously fighting down a blush. Cloud didn't do blushing damnit! He wasn't some girl! It was unheard of! How the hell could his body afford to spare any heat for his face when it should be using it to keep him warm? Damn blasted godforsaken messed up internal wiring!

"Wa..wait that's not what I meant!..!" Sputtering indignantly, he brought a hand up to cover his eyes in some vain attempt to hide himself.

Icy sapphire met stormy grey.

"You see there are these really strange girls who ke..keep trying to..." Leon held up his hand to silence the rushed speech.

"Fangirls?" he supplied easily. '_Already?_'

Cloud still busy berating himself mumbled under his breath.

"Yeah something like that."

"Don't worry, we're relatively safe in here, not many people know of this lounge."

"Really?" he looked baffled, though he did note the use of the word _'we're'_ and almost wondered why he used his choice of words. Then Cloud mentally slapped himself, Leon most likely had twice as many pursuers as he did.

Actually, come to think of it, it was by complete accident that Cloud ducked into this room to hide from the insane women he was sure, was trying to maim him.

"Hai, this is one of my very few havens." Leon whispered albeit a little annoyed; then almost immediately asked.

"So what subject do you teach here?"

Cloud for the first time let a small smile grace his lips.

"Music"

* * *

There are several ways to deal with threats...

One way would be to face it head on... but only fools rush in where hero's fear to tread...

Another way would be to ask for help... but the stubborn have way too much pride for that...

And then we have the most tactful way, HIDE!

Which is exactly what Sora was trying to do, keyword there being 'trying'. If one more girl glomped him and called him cute...he'd tell Naruto! Oh yes and then they'd stay miles away from Sora...after all there was only so much verbal abuse one could be subjected to, yes it was an ingenious plan but for right now hiding would suffice.

But that was easier said than done considering he was trying to hide, get his lunch, and find his brothers at the same time.

Sora sighed for the millionth time cursing his stupidity. He forgot his bento and insisted that the others go reserve their spot in the courtyard while he went back to his locker to get it. It was also where a mob of girls planned on waiting to coddle him to death.

'_If only I could get in there...maybe if I distract them? But with what?_'

Sora's face scrunched up in utter concentration, he pressed his body more flat against the wall and peeked around the corner to his locker once again. _'Still there... damnit!'_

"You know waiting on them to leave won't work."

Sora waved his hand absently not even realizing he was being spoken too. "I know but, I need to figure out how to make them leave my poor locker alone, and that doesn't involve the words 'chase' 'Sora' and 'capture' in the same sentence." Sora whispered harshly as he watched in horror as his locker over flow with cute heart shaped letters. How on earth was he supposed to find his bento now! His poor food, he couldn't just abandon it...wait... did someone just...?

One could practically see the light bulb turn on in Sora's head as he turned around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash.

"It's you!" Sora pointed an accusing finger.

"It's me?" Bright surprised eyes and an impassive face stared back at him.

"Yes it's you!"

"Who is "you"?"

"It's 'who am I? '"

"Who are you?"

"No not who am _I_! Who are you?"

"You just said 'It's you' implying it's me, so who is me?"

"That's incorrect grammar; the proper question is, _who am I?"_

"That's what I want to know."

"I asked first!"

"Really I was under the impression that you knew me since I just so happen to be, 'it's you'…"

"Huh?...ggggrrr stop confusing me!" (5) Sora clutched his head as bewilderment gripped his brain, and bloody hell it had a strong grip.

The stranger in front on him chuckled lightly at his predicament.

"People normally call me Riku not 'you' per say." Riku offered his hand.

"And you are?"

Sora regarded the hand warily before taking it into his own and offered a bright smile.

"I'm Sora!"

'_Now normally I wouldn't mind but in this case...What does this guy want with me? He doesn't like my brothers, so why bother with me? Maybe he's up to something...better play along...' Chibi Sora mentally second the notion._

"Sshhh, you don't want them to hear you now do you?" Riku hushed teasingly.

Sora blushed as he clapped a hand over his mouth shaking his head vigorously side to side.

It was then that Sora saw the smaller teen that stood behind Riku, and bent his head to the side to get a better look.

The teen stepped forward and gave Sora a quick once over and followed Riku's lead.

"Hi I'm Roxas nice to meet you Sora."

The brunet stared up into very familiar sapphire blue eyes and felt completely at ease nearly at once. Sora's next smile lit up the room as he accepted the offered hand.

"Yeah, I hope we can be friends!" His voice barely rose above the soft tones they were using but it still contained all the pent up hyperness that he radiated.

"Sure but first I think we need to solve your current predicament...by the way what are you waiting for?" Roxas poked his head around the corner curiously.

Sora pulled him back immediately, "No they'll eat you!"

Roxas cringed at the sight he beheld before he was so graciously pulled back.

_'Were those girls loyal to no one?' _Roxas sighed in exasperation. Oh wait there were a few but not much. Was it too much trouble to ask the girls to hang off one boy and not eight? (Of course that didn't include the minimal amount if teachers they chased) But then again maybe that was for the best at least the rest of them get to rest every once in a while.

Roxas looked at him as if silently asking him what he was doing here; Sora recognized the look almost immediately.

"Um bento?" was the only thing he could supply, but they understood anyway.

"You're risking your life for a bento?" Riku quirked an eyebrow.

"Hey its not just any lunch its special made by Naruto-niichan!" Sora exclaimed in an undignified manner.

"Hai hai...if it's that important to you then I guess it can't be helped." Riku said in a pacifying manner.

"What can't be helped?" Sora was genuinely curious.

"Hope to see you again soon Sora, bye." Riku started to leave and Sora felt betrayed. He was always, no matter how hard he tried, way too trustworthy.

"Hey you can't just leave me her..." Sora trailed off as Riku, without turning around, lifted a single arm in order to silence him.

'_I knew it! That Ahou! I shouldn't have trusted him._' Sora was seething...well at least on the inside he was, but to a passerby if that pout was any indication to go by, he was moping.

Riku paused for a second and that's when Sora heard it, that beautiful wordless tune...he had never heard such a thing in his life, what kind of instrument would produce such a wondrous sound? Nothing the teen ever heard. It was like he was in a trance, as he steadily moved towards Riku, then he was quickly grabbed from behind to stop his movement. Sora felt all his attention drawn to Riku. And Riku did the most peculiar thing, he dropped his book.

'_But there is no way that was by accident he had a perfect hold on it...'_ Sora stood there baffled.

The sound echoed filling the silence, suddenly the noise stopped and all was quite again.

Riku swiftly but gracefully picked up his book. And then the screeching and squeals came.

"Oh My God it's Riku-sama!"

Sora watched in amazement as Riku took off with the pack of wolfs behind him.

"H..h..he did that for me? Sora sounded so amazed that Roxas had to laugh.

"Sorry, I would have done it myself, but Riku is the perfect scapegoat. He's the fastest in the school!"

Sora absently nodded his head at a loss for words.

'_He distracted them for me by dropping his book' _Thoughts of the strange but beautiful melody all but forgotten. _'Maybe he's not so bad...'_

* * *

"Sora does it really take half an hour to get your lunch?" Naruto looked annoyed.

"Sorry about that but we ran into the she devil's reincarnated." Somebody piped up. It was then that the group of boys noticed the stranger accompanying Sora.

"Oh! Sorry, guys this is..."

"Roxas!"

Sora was slightly startled by the shout.

Naruto looked pleasantly surprised.

"Hey Naruto, where were you yesterday we were waiting for you."

Naruto sweatdropped while chuckling nervously, his hand never did fail to scratch the back of his head.

"He..heh.. you see, I was uumm...kinda incapacitated at the moment.."

"Oh well no problem, we could just eat together today, come on guys lets get you introduced to the rest of the idiots." Roxas laughed motioning for the boys to follow him. He stopped abruptly and had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Um I dunno the rest of your names."

Kazuki laughed that soft melodious laugh of his and, hurried to remedy the problem right away. He liked this guy already.

* * *

"Jeez, that was one interesting lunch..." Ginji was beaming. He managed to avoid the Hebi gang for the entire period and was able to finally relax.

It was really strange though, it was like every person their group had bumped into so far was at that secluded area of the court yard. Hinata, Kairi, her twin Namine who they just met, Neji, Gaara, not to mention all the boys Naruto ran into yesterday were there as well. It was bizarre.

Ginji was expecting it to be very awkward, everyone's personality seemed so...incompatible. But that didn't seem to be the case at all. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, one that could only be made by those who shared a close kinship.

Too bad that comfort came to a screeching halt as something the boys were truly dreading came... gym. The boys didn't get a chance to meet their teachers yesterday but unfortunately they weren't so lucky today.

Gai was truly a thing to be feared, if his teeth shined any harder they could outshine the sun. His bushy eyebrows and bowl cut turned a lot of heads and that green body suit of his made the students cringe. But when he opened his mouth, dear lord have mercy on you.

However their second gym instructor seemed to be much more level headed. Though, one could never tell if he was truly paying attention or not, due to the fact that his face was always in his book.

"Hmm, I guess since this is the beginning of our second term we should have the reevaluation test today then." Kakashi finally looked up from his book and in the process captured the attention of every student and then some.

The man was handsome Naruto credited him that much but was it really a reason for people to start fainting all over the place? Honestly he was starting to wonder again if switching schools was such a good idea to begin with.

"Ohmygodomygodohmygod! He doesn't have his mask on!" seemed to be along the line of what every girl was saying, or babbling same difference.

"Mask?" Ingenious...it really was, an entire question in one word a truly astounding feet if Naruto didn't say so himself.

"What have you been living under a rock? Kakashi only ever has one _eye_ visible. It's rumored that he surgically attached that mask too his face!"

Naruto turned around to see who was who speaking to him and froze in his tracks.

"You again!" Sakura looked generally surprised, and then shock faded away into disgust and fatigue.

Naruto honestly couldn't answer, what was he suppose to say _'uh yeah?' _because that would really be showing off his amazing ingenuity. So he promptly turned away and faced his brother completely ignoring the strawberry blonde. Which is exactly why he missed the brief frown that marred her lovely face before she could school her expression.

"Gin-niichan what the heck is he talking about?" Naruto's curiosity got the better of him.

"I don't believe I've seen you four here before." A voice bored spoke almost directly in front of him.

The chibi practically jumped outta his skin before rounding on the man in front of him. "Don't sneak up on people like that! You probably shaved off more years of my life than I have to spare Hatake-sensei!"

Naruto glared furiously at the teacher though his glasses while everyone else's jaw hit the floor.

"Kakashi's fine I don't care for formalities...but you are rather loud... which means you have a lot of energy... which means you have plenty to spare...which means Gai may have a new star pupil!"

"Eh?" Naruto was seriously confused now, but before he had time to react he was wrenched outta his seat into a hug that literally left him breathless and gasping for oxygen.

'_Now this seems so very familiar! I wonder why!' _Black eyes would have rolled if he had any movement to spear but he was too busy turning purple.

"OH MOST ESTEEMED RIVLAL YOU HAVE FOUND ME A WONDEROUS NEW YOUTH TO HELP BLOSSOM INTO A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER LIKE THE BUDS OF SPRING!"

'_Why is he crying? Oh god somebody save me before he-'_

"Gai he hasn't even been tested yet, we don't know if he even qualifies for gym." Kakashi's amused expression was quickly turning bored once again.

While Gai was distracted, Naruto felt himself being yanked out of Gai's arms and placed in somebody's lap while securely being tucked away into a firm chest.

Gai was taken by surprise as he stared into the face of a boy he could barely see. Ginji looked at the teacher a little nervously while tightening his grip on his otouto.

"I think it's best if maybe I hold onto him."

Naruto was on the verge of tears himself, '_I guess I do have good credit with the people upstairs after all.' _

"Alright I'll give you boys a brief intro on how things work around here..."A succinct pause ensued. Kakashi blinked, Naruto blinked. Kakashi blinked again, Ginji blinked.

"Alrighty Sakura do your stuff." Kakashi than proceeded to burry his face in his book once again.

"What the hel.."

Naruto...confused?...oh yes. It seemed to be his favorite state of mind lately.

Sakura not being one to miss a beat immediately jumped to her feet.

"The year is split up into two terms, for every term you generally get new teachers for every class, but there are only two gym teachers so there are no rotating teachers unless the results of your evaluation differ. The evaluation tests are used to place you in one class or the other. Kakashi has the specially gifted student's, which are students who excel at almost everything. And Gai has the physically fit students that don't make it into Kakashi's section, do you follow so far?"

At the sight of four simultaneous nods she continued.

"The test will measure your strength, reflex, agility, flexibility, and potential. And you get reevaluated each term to see if you've improved, slacked off, or remain neutral. If you can't keep up with either class then you join the jogging class, which is supervised by a man named Ebisu. And before you ask, no it's not actually part of gym but it's aloud to prevent people from failing because they can't keep up. Any questions?" By the time Sakura finished she looked like a general about to march her troupes into battle.

Naruto liked her like this, she looked so relaxed and at ease. It was a bit disturbing that she could transform herself like that. Which 'her' was the real 'her'? He couldn't tell.

"K then Sensei I think we're ready." Sakura immediately returned to her previous spot so the test could begin.

* * *

"It's not fair!" Sora wined.

And it really didn't seem like it was, the test were simple enough, the four boys had aced them with seemingly no problem...but yet here they were with Gai doing warm-ups, a ridiculous amount of warm-ups mind you.

"Didn't Sakura san say that those who excelled at everything belonged with Kakashi's group?" Kazuki frowned as he noticed the very odd pattern that took place. No matter how well or bad a student did they were placed in Gai's class. Those who simply couldn't do it went with Ebisu to the other half of the yard. The yard itself was equivalent to about two football fields in size.

Yet the handful of student's that were placed with Kakashi didn't even seem to be putting in any really effort, almost as if they already knew where they were headed.

The class was fairly large. There were two hundred students present, about 50 students went with Kakashi and 90 with the man they called Ebisu which left Gai with about 60.

Kazuki finished the outrageous number of warm-ups before waiting on further instruction. Kakashi's group wasn't too far away from theirs. Kazuki wasn't really surprised but then again...it seemed all of their friends had this gym class and the Hebi gang too but that wasn't the shock. The shock was they were all place with Kakashi's class, even the girls Hinata, Kairi, Naminé, Sakura and Ino.

Now Kazuki wasn't considered a genius for nothing, he was fairly sure that they were if not equal too, then more physically fit than the girls. Nothing was adding up.

* * *

"Didn't you know? Kakashi's class is for the gifted! Not for normal people and certainly not for losers like you." A random boy said rather smugly.

Naruto cringed; he really wished he had kept his big mouth shut. _'How do I get myself into these things? Oh wait 'shut up' was never really in my vocabulary to begin with.' _

He was just as mad as his brothers but of course he was much more vocal about it. That seemed to be his downfall as the harpy like students started to verbally attack them.

But for the life of him he couldn't figure out why nobody bothered to yell at Sora, 'cause heaven knows the boy was just as loud as him.

'_It's what you get for him being too damn cute.'_ The little voice in his head seemed to supply.

He sighed, and shook his head dejectedly before he was pulled into a hug from behind. The sound of tinkling bells allowed him to identify the person right away.

"It's okay Naru-niichan we'll do just fine here." Kazuki reassured.

"Yeah but I don't wanna run laps for the rest of the term! I wanna do something fun. Besides, if the bastard can do it, than it can't be that hard!"

Kazuki chuckled, Naruto knew that the Hebi gang members were eye candy but really the chibi was just in denial...and it seemed that he had already set his sights on the raven haired beauty.

Kazuki watched as a strawberry blonde attached herself to Sasuke's arm. _'Too bad he's already taken.' _Haruno Sakura, he heard about her through the grape vine, apparently the leaders of this gang were quite popular amongst not only the students but the faculty as well. But he could see exactly why everyone was so infatuated with them. It should be a sin to look that good.

"NOW WONDERFUL YOUTHS OF TODAY WE WILL BEGIN TRAINING IN KARATE AND KENDO IN ORDER TO FULLY PREPARE OUR MINDS AND BODIES! SELFDEFENCE IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY! AND WE MUST RID OUR BODIES OF THE PENT UP ENERGY WE HAVE!"

"Kaa..karate?" Naruto and Ginji echoed.

"Kkk..kendo?" Sora paled.

Kazuki quickly looked back at the boy's, complete horror overriding his calm exterior.

"Uummm we're very sorry Gai-sensei but we can't participate in those things, umm mabe we could run laps instead?" Ginji blurted out still on the verge of panic.

"NONSENSE! CAN YOU NOT FEEL THE YOUTHFUL ENERGY BURN WITHIN YOU? YOU MUST TRAIN ALL OF YOUR BODY NOT ONLY YOUR LEGS! IT IS UNHEARD OF, MY ETERNAL RIVAL SAID YOU WOULD BE GOOD CANIDATES. AND YOUR TEST RECEIVED THE HIGHEST MARKS SO YOU MUST PARTAKE!"

"Something tells me we just screwed ourselves over" Sora whispered as he attempted to hide behind Naruto who was currently hiding behind Kazuki.

"Just...just don't overdo it guys and everything should be fine." That would have been reassuring if Ginji's legs hadn't been trembling.

Ginji was panicking alright. _'Why, of all things in the world did he have to go and pick that for the first day? We're not suppose to fight, bad things will happen! At least Kazuki is safe..._

* * *

_Flashback – a few months prior_

"Hey guys hurry up or we'll be late! I don't wanna miss practice!" Ginji was ready to fly out the door by the time everyone was present and accounted for.

"So-chan do you have your sword? Otouto did you remem.."

"Yes and Yes I remembered mine as well can we get going?" Naruto was just as much in a hurry. He loved their practice but they rarely ever had time to go together anymore, with school starting and all.

_(Cue Music _Muse- Take A Bow~ Symphonic/Original Mix)

When they got to their destination they were surprised to find it practically empty. The dojo was normally packed with students. Without giving it anymore thought the boys trudged forward to take up their usual post.

The dojo was divided into sections where different fighting styles were practiced. Naruto and Ginji studied all types of martial arts while Sora and Kazuki focused more on kendo due to the fact they were already well versed in everything else.

It was odd to...no it was down right insane, what occurred within the next few minutes...

Naruto was paired with what he deemed the worst monstrosity to ever walk this earth Nagino Sai. The boy had a damn tree shoved up his ass and had a wonderful superiority complex to complement it. And yes right then and there said boy wasn't even trying, but rather succeeding in beating Naruto in the ground. Or so it seemed.

Sai aimed a round house kick for Naruto's head, but with movements faster than he could see Naruto blocked it and knocked Sai off balance causing him to crash to the floor.

Sai smirked "Oh look the nerd got a lucky hit." He charged at him and sent an uppercut straight to Naruto's gut. Naruto back flipped to avoid it and retaliated with a rear kick. Sai not being one to fall for the same thing twice decided to end it and aimed a blow for Naruto's head. Naruto fell for the trick and Sai took the momentary laps to send a quick jab to his sternum. Naruto stumbled back as he desperately tried to catch his breath. The bastard smirked and came at him again. _'Shit! What is he trying to do kill me! I can't catch my breath...' _

Naruto frantically tried to move but the pain shot through his body. _'I don't wanna die here!_' Panic almost overrode him, and then something snapped inside of him.

'_This bastard's dead!'_ In one last moment of retaliation he forced his arms up into a head and chess block, as a feral smile settled on his lips.

Heat... nothing but pure heat, Naruto vaguely heard screaming but couldn't focus on it. He couldn't see anything past the blazing flames that engulfed him. But he felt it, the fire coursing through his veins.

"YOU FREAK! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!" Sai's entire left arm seemed to be charred but he held a blunt wooden kunai in front of him as a weak form of defense.

"GO TO HELL!" Sai charged at him but before he could reach him he was practically blinded by light.

* * *

Ginji knew something was going to go wrong today. His fortune cookie said so damnit! But did he listen to it? Nnooo, of course not, what fruit loop listened to their fortune cookie?

Ginji was in the middle of sparing with some random person he'd never laid eyes on before. Naruto's partner was absent so he got Ginji's partner instead.

Sai...Ginji didn't believe in hating anyone but this boy was cutting it real close. He was worried; _he_ barely managed to put up with the boy so god only knew how on earth _Naruto_ was fairing. Ginji's body was on auto pilot right now. For him fighting came as natural as breathing.

Then he felt it, pain shot up his sternum and the breath was knocked out of him. _'How? He never laid a hand on me so how?' _Ginji froze as insight kicked in. But this time it was different, he saw what was not there and he felt what was not his. Rage, something he was not accustomed to, seemed to overtake him.

Naruto was in trouble, he saw everything, he didn't know how nor did he care, but he knew he had to be there and now! Shock waves ran up and down his body but it was painless almost as if it had been there since his very existence came to be. Lightening formed from the very tips of his finger as he punched the underclassmen in one swift move successfully knocking him out. He had to move and fast!

* * *

Sora's attacks were relentless, as he charged forward, he never seemed to run out of energy. But that was expected from the teen, so he was paired with someone with amazing endurance. Unfortunately for him though, Sora's guard was nearly perfect. Whatever opening's there were, only lasted for a few seconds before Sora corrected his stance. So Sora's partner was really taking a beating.

In one brash move the young teen charged at Sora and almost got a hit in. Back flipping away the brunet twisted in mid air to automatically guard against any unexpected attacks but immediately fell to the floor taking in labored breaths as pain raced up the center of his chest_. _

'_What's wrong with me?'_ he thought frantically. _'He didn't touch me so wh...'_ Blue eyes clouded over as image after image bombarded him. '_No I have to help him! Naru-niichan!'_

It was like having an out of body experience Sora decided. There was pure blinding light but he could see. It felt like it was shining through him but it made him numb from sensation all at the same time. The analgesic feeling lulled Sora into a state of relax before the icy burn like feeling washed over him. It was like dumping a bucked of ice water on yourself in the scorching summer weather. But it was a welcomed pain that was quickly adjusted to.

Light was malleable he discovered, it bent into a crude shape of a sword according to his will. Thrusting forward it went straight through his opponent, and the boy passed out almost instantly.

Sora ran like his life depended on it, and upon reaching his brother unknowingly released a surge of energy.

(end flashback)

(End Cue Music)

* * *

Waking up after that incident had been surreal. Nobody wanted to believe it was true, but the four boys had all witnessed the same occurrence.

And with every fight that the three got into that weird surge of power would emerge. Hence the reason why Sora never touched a sword and Naruto and Ginji avoided fighting like the plague. But now it seemed almost impossible to avoid.

Naruto turned to observe Kakashi's class as they continued their warm ups. They were currently running laps. Kakashi slowly made his way across the field only to stop in front the group.

"Ano, Gai let them join the jogging class they will have plenty of time to run there. This could be dangerous for kids like them." Kakashi's eye's curved upward in amusement but his tone was underlined with all seriousness.

"So ka...I guess so..." Gai sounded dejected as his eyes once again welled up with tears.

Naruto was two seconds away from blowing up,_ 'What the hell is it any of his business?'_

He grabbed the closest person next to him feeling a strange pull and proceeded to center stage.

"If I pass this stupid test then you owe me ramen!" Naruto yelled pointing a finger at the seemingly careless teacher.

"Hai, hai no worries." Kakashi waved him off.

Everyone watched as the four boys partnered up unknowingly with the top students in the class. Naruto grabbed on to a boy named Zell who seemed to be very energetic and nothing but smiles. He had a very interesting tattoo going on, on the left side of his face.

Ginji was paired up with a boy named Rock Lee. The baffled boy could do nothing but stare in wonderment at the fuzzy eye browed boy's zealousness.

Sora was looking up at rather lanky looking male character named Akabane. For some unknown reason this guy gave him the chills. And Kazuki was facing off with a cocky looking blonde called Seifer.

Kakashi frowned; maybe he was taking this whole thing a bit too far. Sure they were fit, but their partners have been training for most of their lives, they could get seriously hurt. Not to mention that all four of them didn't actually belong in Gai's class to begin with… This all started out in good natured teasing but some how got out of hand. Kakashi was about to call the whole thing off when Gai hollered.

"BEGIN!"

* * *

Side Notes

1) Sasuke's pet name for Riku will be Ri-otou, obviously Ri for Riku and otou is short for Otouto which means younger brother.

2) First I shortened Sora's name to the affectionate So chan but I'm wondering if I should put a 'u' at the end of it cause 'So-chan' looks funny.

3) Can you guess who is who? I'll give you a Sasuke plushy if you get it right.

4) I'm using Leon's style from KH2, unless you prefer his look from FF8, I refuse to use his 'look' from KH1, I think they butchered his image in there. And when I refer to style I don't mean clothes, I mean his physical characteristics.

5) Did anybody get confused as yet?

Review replies 

(I don't remember if I wrote back already but what the heck.)

-C-heese -C-ake -CC- Wow I'm flattered! I was and still am nervous about this fic, criticism and support are greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well as the rest

Nusku - I agree with you completely which makes the next chapter that much more interesting! (wink wink) And as for the Kyuubi, I'm not to sure how the heck I'm fitting him into the plot, but as a name it's highly over used. Sorry do you have any ideas? I'd love to hear them I'm truly at a lost for that one, and as for the glasses...hhmm..lets just say good things are often awarded to those with patience.

Ryou-la-lune - I'm glad you liked it! I honestly wanted to write a fic but I couldn't stick to one category so I was like 'what the heck' and threw them all together. I will be using some original ideas from each respective show and game so if you're ever confused I'd be more than happy to help you out!

Wierdchick – I'm glad you stuck around, and am even more relieved that you still like it! I hope I don't disappoint you with my lack of writing skills.

SexyDemon9 – O.o I somehow fear for your brains...I hope I didn't leave you for to long. And yes your right about the home economics things. My school is a vocational school. And they have the strangest abbreviations for anything and everything. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

makacatori – wow flattery really does get you everywhere. Lol here's the update as promised. Well what do you think? Is my writing improving even the tiniest bit?

Summertime201- Thank you very much and did you like? Any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it!

kurokioku- ;) your review made me laugh! Thanks a bunch I needed it! And about Ino and Sakura...sorry I have big plans for them as minor characters, can't get rid of them yet...sorry.

Angelic-Devil-Kamui – Your review honestly was an inspiration, and it was greatly appreciated...I'm very honored you feel that way:) I'm sorry I took so long, but I hope this made up for the wait even if it was just a little. If you ever write a story I'd love to read it!


	5. So it begins

_**Author's Note**_: You might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.

_**Cue Music:**_ (1)Vitamin String Quartet- Knights of Cydonia (Muse) (2) Vitamin String Quartet- Through The Fire And Flames (Dragonforce) (3) The Chairman's Waltz (4)A Narnia Lullaby'

* * *

(Cue music- Vitamin String Quartet- Knights of Cydonia (Muse) )

Problems were simply unavoidable. The more you run from them the faster they seem to catch up with you. And as always, this time around they were back with vengeance.

Naruto spat out another mouthful of dirt as he slowly picked himself up off the ground. A low guttural sound reverberated from the deep recesses of his throat as he caught another well placed kick to his head.

The fight had been raging on for the better part of fifteen minutes and already with all things said and done, things did not bode well for the brunet.

'_What the hell is this guy made out of? No matter how hard or fast I hit, I barely even graze him...'_

Naruto, lost in thought, didn't realize his mistake until he felt a light graze against his cheek. His reflexes causing him to scarcely miss what would have been the finishing blow. He brought a hand to his cheek only to see red as he pulled away. He wasted no time in charging his opponent.

'_That asshole almost took my head off!'_

Once again losing focus as he got lost in thought, he failed to block a follow up roundhouse kick to his chest. As he went sailing through the air, he barely registered the look of concern that flitted through Zell's face.

With the impact stealing his precious air Naruto could've sworn he saw double for a moment. Zell _wasn't_ all smiles it seemed. He packed one hell of a punch and he'd prefer to not even think about his kicks. He tried so hard to end this as fast as he could but it seemed as if that was his biggest mistake. Zell was no rookie and he was proving that the hard way. Naruto didn't want to fight seriously, but his body trembled from the effort of holding back.

'_Why is this so hard? This fight should have been over by now.' _

Naruto watched as Zell basked in all the cheers. He could distantly hear the shouts for the boy to just end the match already. It was no longer fun to watch, especially if the nerd wasn't putting up a decent fight. He could vaguely hear a few boys offering Zell to spar with them after his match with Naruto...no, after his _warm up_ with Naruto.

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut as he let all the harsh words sink in. He'd had quite enough bullying for one day, _no_ _screw that_ he had been bullied enough times in the past two days to last his entire life!

Anger seemed to fuel his movements as he charged Zell head on. Zell smirked as he saw the reckless movement and once again put himself on guard. Too bad he really didn't see it coming his way. As Naruto landed a blow to his abdomen he felt all the air forced out of him as he slid a few feet back. Zell looked up from his bent position to see Naruto straightening his back from the last blow he had delivered. The slightly panicked look was completely gone from the others barely visible eye only to be replaced by sheer determination and pure anger. Naruto slowly bent down to pick up his fallen glasses and wiped them on his shirt before putting them back on.

Zell had the strangest feeling that Naruto was done fooling around now and things were going to get interesting. The students who gathered around their fight that had been cheering Zell on only moments ago had gone completely silent. The question of, '_what the hell is going on here?'..._ was left unspoken and hanging in the air.

* * *

Sora panted as he evaded yet another fluent string of attacks. His opponent hadn't even broken a sweat yet! It was aggravating the brunet to no end and his cheerful demeanor slowly started to slip away. No matter how much he dodged, the man before him simply did not tire. Akabane's smile was eerie and mocking.

He clumsily blocked Akabane's barrage of attacks wondering how long this fight would really drag on for. He couldn't feel it but he knew it was there, lurking within the dark recesses of his mind just waiting to jump out at the most inopportune moment. Fear was curling at the pit of his stomach, he wanted to stop, he wanted to stop so badly but he couldn't. No matter how much he tried, thoughts of Naruto, Ginji, and Kazuki flooded his mind. He would never let his brothers' head's fall in shame, he wouldn't and he couldn't dammit!

Sora narrowed his eyes as he saw an opening and decided to take his chances. Faster than half of the onlookers could see, Sora moved in the blink of an eye thrusting his weapon at Akabane's unguarded hip. But with a simple flick of Akabane's wrist Sora was thrown backwards. He flipped once in the air and landed in a perfect stance. Realization dawned on him as shock colored his once happy face.

"You're toying with me..." the whispered words' weren't a question to begin with but Akabane still heard them and felt obliged to respond to them.

"Sou ka...I wonder..." He smiled once again as he saw Sora's body go rigid.

"You shouldn't make me mad; you may not like what you're asking for..." His voice trailed off, but his words were filled not with shock, fear, nor malice, but instead it was void.

When Sora decided to raise his head, his face was blank an unreadable emotion whirling within the depths of his eyes.

Akabane smiled, "We'll just have to find out then, ne?"

Blue eyes slid shut, slowly a smile made its way across his face. "No..._we_ won't," he said rather cheerfully.

Before Akabane could breathe Sora was a mere foot away from his face, pressing his sword against his neck. His eyes remained shut as the eerie smile mocked the elder boy effortlessly.

(End Cue Music)

* * *

(Cue Music Vitamin String Quartet- Through The Fire And Flames)

Kazuki was well acquainted with a Kendo sword. The familiar weight rested in his hands as Seifer charged once more. He was a decent fighter that much credit had to be given. Not very many people could last this long against him.

Slowly but surely another smirk filtered across Seifer's countenance. He charged at Kazuki's shoulder, but as expected the boy dogged it while lifting his own arm in defense. Seifer wasted no time in disarming Kazuki. He jammed the butt of his sword into Kazuki's right elbow successfully causing the boy to drop the Kendo sword.

Kazuki still in shock didn't realize as the boy swung his arm back to deliver a critical blow. As he stood there staring at his fallen weapon his fingers automatically reached for the bells present in his hair.

Within a matter of seconds Seifer found himself frozen on the spot with his grip going lax against his sword.

"What did you do to me?" was all he could gasp out. He clenched his teeth together in pain as something continued to restrict his movements.

He tried to free his arm but found that it was a mistake on his behalf as the binding tightened exponentially. It was then that he finally noticed the fine and almost invisible lines of thread that wrapped around his body as if it had a mind of its own. He followed the treads to its origin and realized with a sort of bewilderment that the white material wrapped around Kazuki's hair was not cloth but never ending spools of thread. He struggled harder when the reality of the situation hit him. He had been disarmed and his opponent had a never ending arsenal on his side.

"You really shouldn't move, the thread can sense movement and will automatically crush whatever's in its grasp." Kazuki finally looked up from his fallen weapon.

"Do you think you could teach me how to do that move?"

Seifer didn't know weather to laugh or curse. His friggen pre-battle massive handicap wasn't helping him either. The man in front of him could _kill_ somebody with the mere use of thread, and here he wanted to learn to disarm someone with a sword?

Honestly some people really had their priorities screwed up. He was just about to voice his opinions when the thread stole what he was sure was his final breath.

"Gomenasai, I almost forgot!" Kazuki released the thread with a flick of his wrist.

Seifer stared in puzzlement, who were these people?

* * *

Ginji was surprised to say the least. Lee wasted no time in getting started. He was fast and not a single movement was wasted. He wouldn't lie, he was edgy but he tried not to let that affect him as best he could.

After the first few minutes of clumsily stumbling around his body started to react almost instantaneously.

As Rock Lee swept his foot underneath him to knock him off his balance, Ginji swiftly somersaulted over his head.

As Rock Lee aimed a kick to his head he deftly countered it with a head-block and spin-kick.

As Rock aimed a punch to his floating ribs, he avoided it by delivering his own rear kick to his knees.

It was like a dance, but this dance was not one he was use to. It was like dancing over knives. Instead of relaxing into what would have been an old routine, his body seemed to tense up even further as the spar continued to drag on.

"I commend you on your amazing ability to keep up with me Ginji-san, but I'm afraid that I must end this early. It is the first day of class and I wish to utilize all of my time in training to better myself."

Lee, with a burst of speed sent Ginji flying into the air. He landed on the ground with a jolt before rolling a few times.

As he lay there struggling to catch his breath, it was then that Ginji heard the crowd cheering like mad for Rock Lee's supposed victory. His head was spinning and he wanted nothing more than to hurl at that very moment.

He was contemplating exactly how long it would take to dig to the other side of the planet when it happened. It was soft at first like a misty breeze but it grew harder as the seconds wore on. The rain was hard and unrelenting; it felt like hail was falling from the sky.

"Enough, it's time to head back inside to the gym, Lee you did very well." Kakashi appeared out of thin air it seemed, but he had to yell to be heard.

Ginji laid there utterly defeated still struggling to catch his breath with his head resting face down in the ground. Why on earth did he think he could do this? It was ridiculous; he wasn't made for this sort of thing. And besides everyone was against him...

_Too bad, the nerd was almost pretty good..._

_Did you hear? The other one is still trying to fight..._

_I heard Zell beat his face into the ground..._

_And he actually got up? What a looser, he'll just get his ass handed to him in the end..._

Ginji for the second time in his life saw red. '_If Naruto is trying this hard what right do I have to give up? I have to do this for him, and...for myself as well. No more running, I'm so bloody tired of running in circles! I won't give up! I won't lose!'_

He felt it, the tension was gone and there was nothing but calmness that flowed through his body. As he stood up he faced the retreating backs of the teacher and his opponent. He removed his glasses and placed them in his pocket as he spoke.

"We're not done yet."

Without turning around Kakashi replied "Yes you are, the weather is getting pretty bad and there really is no more point to this match. The point of this class is not to harm your peers but to learn from them."

Ginji furred his eyebrows in thought and tried a different approach.

"Why are you running away?"

Rock Lee stiffened as he turned around. "Ginji-san I really don't wish to cause you any harm. Please let us head back now."

Ginji bowed his head as he took his stance once more. "Please for the sake of my honor, please finish this fight!"

Lee nodded his head in understanding as he resumed his stance.

"The both of you, inside now!" Kakashi didn't seem pleased at all. The students stopped in their retreat in order to witness what was going on.

* * *

Sora felt numb from sensations once again. The analgesic feeling flooding his system as the icy burn like feeling washed over him. The pain was rapidly adjusted too as Sora stared at Akabane with unfeeling eyes.

The onlookers watched in rapt attention and shock as the wooden Kendo stick burnt to ashes dusting the ground. The small boy in front of them glowed, the light seeping from his skin. Then...everything froze. From the rain in the sky to the people standing in the crowd, not a single thing moved. Sora couldn't register anything but what was in front of him.

Sora felt the power surge through his right arm and once again take the shape of a sword.

Akabane had no time to counter as Sora brought his arm down with a ferocity that couldn't be stopped.

* * *

Ginji looked at Kakashi with a look that bordered on arrogance. He no longer felt the animosity that was flowing through him earlier. Instead there was a nonchalance that he wasn't sure should be there. He closed his eyes to savor the feeling of jolts which ran through out his body.

The onlookers were frozen in fear as they watched Ginji slowly bring his hand up to his face as if to examine it. What happened next nobody could explain, but they all saw the lightning that exploded from his fingertips.

Ginji watched his hand before he felt that surge he couldn't control swell within him. He vaguely noted that all was still, not even the elements seemed to challenge him as he watched Lee charge him full force. He grabbed his wrist to deflect the attack and create an open but the swelling feeling finally erupted and the only thing he could remember was Lee's painful scream. He tried to block everything out but his world was spinning and it was all that he could do to close his eyes.

* * *

The rain was no longer pouring from the heavens above, but it remained frozen as if time itself stopped. Naruto stood there unaware of the blood as it mixed with the water on his face. The students around him were no longer cheering, no longer animated, still as unmoving lifeless dolls.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he'd never before wished as hard as he did for Iruka, Cloud, and Ginji as he did that moment. The pain was unbearable as it swallowed him whole. He didn't understand what was happening around him any more than a lost four year old in a supermarket would. But he knew that what he feared the most had come to pass only a few moments ago. Zell laid there motionless, the right side of his torso was charred and the scent of burning flesh reached Naruto's nostrils. Unable to fight the urge Naruto leaned forward and retched as the contents in his stomach came spewing forth.

(End Cue Music)

Bleary eyes tried to focus on something but only glimpsed a few figures moving towards him. Within moments time seemed to slowly awake as if it had never stopped to begin with. Only when the rain continued to beat mercilessly on Naruto's head did he seem to snap out of his daze.

'_Why are they looking at me like that? Why are they looking at me as if I'm some kind of freak? I didn't mean to do it! I didn't mean to hurt him!' _

All at once the brunet started to panic. The look of horror, fear, and disgust couldn't be washed away by the rain as easily as the blood and the stench could. Naruto, ignoring the crowd who seemed to be slowly backing away, made his was over to Zell only to be beat by someone else. Gai picked Zell up and spoke in a hushed voice for once.

"Go inside to the gym, and get changed before you all get sick." Without even looking at Naruto he made his way back to the main house. The silence roared loudly in his ears almost drowning out the rain.

* * *

Nothing made sense to him anymore... Naruto sat inside the glass dome that was supposes to be the gymnasium. He would have been awestruck if he wasn't too dazed to pay attention. The dome sat at the far end of the court yard and overlooked the cliff into the never ending forest. The ceiling was at least 40 feet high and the diameter was one hundred and ten feet easy. The polished floors gleamed against the fluorescent light as the rain continued to beat away against the glass.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He would have been completely fine with it if said arms weren't violently trembling.

Just as he was about to turn around a freezing cold body sat itself in his lap and curled up into a ball, hugging him as if he was trying to steal away his non existent heat.

Naruto wasn't the only one to slip up and he knew it. Within his minds eye he saw their struggles as clear as if it were his own and he knew they saw his as well. Sora almost decapitated a man, coming shy of his jugular vein by a mere half an inch and leaving a deep gash below his collar bone. Ginji almost electrocuted the whole field but barely managed to keep it under control. But out of everything he witnessed the things that plagued him the most where the _looks_, the accusing and horrified eyes that blamed him and his brothers for the mess that had taken place.

Naruto grabbed Sora into a tight hug as Ginji slowly let him go from behind. He slid down from his seat on the top bleacher to the seat beside Naruto. He laced their fingers together, squeezed his hand, and gave him a single nod of reassurance with a shaky smile. Sora slowly uncurled from his position only to slide in the seat in front of Naruto, where he then placed his head in Naruto's lap. Kazuki appeared not to long after to join the group. He sat next to Sora and braced on Ginji's legs letting out a small sigh.

"We blew it didn't we?" Sora asked after a while in a small voice, clutching onto Naruto's pants.

"I really don't know" Naruto whispered back slowly raking his fingers through Sora's hair in a soothing gesture.

As the boys sat there the silence grew heavy. Sora not liking the atmosphere at all spoke softly.

"You know, I always thought that there was only light and dark..." He paused a moment to gather his scattered thoughts before continuing.

"...like the light represented good and the dark represented bad. I never really thought that there was anymore to it. But if light was good than it wouldn't be able to harm anyone but the bad right? So I guess that means that there is a dark side to light, and perhaps maybe a light side to dark?"

Ginji gave what seemed to be a genuine smile for the first time since before their _spar_.

"Maybe Sora it's not about the good and bad...maybe it's what we make it to be. Just 'cause it's possible for light to be manipulated, doesn't mean that it's good or bad. It all depends on who uses it. After all the light can also burn you if it gets too hot. Its heat, remember? And as for darkness... it could shield you from all those things that seek to harm you. In order for there to be good there must be bad, it's the law of things. And in order for there to be light there must be dark, or there would be nothing to distinguish from just the grey."

"The grey...or the undecided, is where the dark and the light overlap... Is it the light side of the dark or the dark side of the light?" Kazuki offered in a small weary voice and smile.

"It's neither." Naruto stated off handedly. "Are we done contemplating the meaning of life now? It is what it is, simple as that. Maybe they're just something's that aren't meant to be understood, maybe it's better off not knowing because knowing certain things can confuse you a hell of a lot more then not understanding them." He stated with a huff.

"What you mean like Sasuke?" Ginji snickered. "I hear you on that one Otouto. I mean who knows _what_ the heck goes on in _that _boy's head!" Ginji laughed and dodged as Naruto attempted to whack him upside his head.

The group felt the tension lift like a heavy fog. "It came out of nowhere, but it wasn't like we weren't expecting it. We all knew what would've happened if we did fight and now we gotta take responsibility for our actions." Naruto let a heavy sigh escape before being jerked out of his musing.

The air that was once buzzing with life was deadly still, the muteness all encompassing. A chill raced up Naruto's spine as icy fingers caressed his skin. Whipping his head about Naruto was starting to doubt his sanity seeing as that no one was there. But then he noticed something that made his heart jump almost painfully in his throat. The lights were dimming, slowly until it was completely off leaving only the lightning ridden skies to illuminate their surroundings.

Time was standing still once more it seemed, only this time Naruto wasn't alone.

"Again?" Ginji whispered looking around frantically amongst the statuesque like students.

"You guys saw this earlier as well?" Kazuki's body tensed almost as if he were expecting a sneak attack, unsettlement was more than evident in his eyes.

"Yeah, I thought it was just the adrenaline rush though..." Sora said trying to focus on anything that made noise. He gave up on trying to stop his trembling body knowing full well that it was useless. It was ridiculous how the boy could take down a giant almost twice his size but couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of anything remotely spooky.

"It was too fast I thought I imagined it all..." His whispers died down once again as he strained his ears.

It was then that they heard the foot steps coming from the breezeway that led from the manor to the glass dome. It was barely audible, but there never the less. The doors were thrown open only to allow passage to the shadow of masses that did more than blend in with the darkness. They weaved their way through the student statues as if it were they were as ambiguously formless as the darkness themselves. They were quickly advancing towards them, and the four brothers felt what little blood they had left drain out of their face.

Before any questions could be asked, a group of fifty or so hooded figures stood before them, only parting way for a single member to approach them. The hoods were slowly lowered to reveal the now somewhat familiar faces. The group was scrutinizing them, skeptical looks, inquiring eyes, disgusted stares, indifferent faces, were among some of the many reactions that they glimpsed.

The figure that stood in front of them made a move to remove the hood, immediately drawing their attention back to it. What little light was present illuminated the silvery white hair and the mismatched grey and red eyes.

Kakashi was the first one to break the uneasy silence. "By the way you're reacting, I'd say you have no idea what the heck is going on, correct?"

The boys could only nod dumbly and stare, not daring to open their mouths in fear of saying something stupid or even worse, passing out.

Kakashi then clapped his hands together and grinned. "Sou ka, well congratulations! You are now officially part of my class. Of course we'll have to clean up this mess first, erase a few memories, but no worries we have trained professionals to deal with the trivial stuff."

"H..huh?" was the only brilliant question that sounded through the air as four confused pair of eyes stared down at the teacher.

"Oh right you have no idea what's going on maybe I should explain..." Naruto blinked, Kakashi blinked...Ginji blinked...Kakashi blinked again...Sora blinked...

"Okay Sakura do your stuff" Kakashi then preceded to burry his face in his perverted little orange book.

Naruto deadpanned for a moment completely forgetting his fear from earlier, _'What a lazy bastard!' _

Once again general Sakura marched to the front of the line to brief her troops.

"Well I'm sure you're all wondering why you were chosen after the evaluation test and not during, correct?" At their unsure nods she went to continue, but abruptly stopped, frowning slightly.

"What am I doing? Why is everyone standing? Grab a seat guys!" It seemed as if Sakura's attitude wasn't only affecting the four boys because the rest of the group grabbed seats on the bleachers relatively close to one and other also.

"Our group is special, we aren't what people would call normal... each member of our group is gifted in their own unique way, ways that are very similar to yours. It's odd though, we all knew about our powers from the time we were able to understand how to use them. I wonder why you discovered yours now... what generation do you belong to anyways? (1) Oh well, speak now figure out mysteries later," She waved her hand trying to dismiss the thought and proceed with her lecture.

"Now that you know our secret, you must be placed under oath; under no circumstances are you allowed to tell the ordinary students about us. It would cause an uproar! But no need to worry this is only about half of our group. There are others but they're currently in other classes right now. We meet in the afternoons with the whole group for extra practice, and before you ask yes it's mandatory. You'll learn how to control your _chakra _a.k.a. powers, and how to use them and all that other good stuff, got it? Any questions?"

"Umm how are the boys doing?" Ginji's worry was a nearly palpable thing."

"No worries they'll be good as new soon enough."

Naruto was tempted to question that but kept his mouth shut. He didn't think he could handle any more surprises.

"This isn't some sort of cult is it?" Sora asked quirking an eyebrow.

"No, of course not!" Sakura laughed at the adorable boy's question. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"You're dressed in black robes with hoods, what the hell were we suppose to think?" Naruto muttered before being pounced on.

"All in good fun my friends! The looks on your faces were priceless!" A rather loud and boisterous but warm voice rang out.

"Kiba!"

"At your service my man, what can I do for ya?"

"First of all, don't yell in my friggin ear idiot!" Naruto hollered but the humor dancing in his eyes gave him away. "And secondly, when's dinner I'm starved!"

Kiba laughed as the rest of his friends came to joint them "Dude we just ate!"

* * *

Riku was curious. He watched as the boys laughed and joked around with one and other from the top of the bleachers. In all honesty it really amazed him at how carefree they seemed to be. After all that just went on he expected them to be nervous wrecks. He absently wondered how old the boys were. Sora looked no older than a 12 year old kid with his small scrawny frame, and short wild cinnamon spikes for hair. And that boy Naruto looked even younger if that were possible. Ginji and Kazuki appeared to be the eldest of the group.

At first Riku really didn't want to have anything to do with those kids. To be truthful they didn't seem all that bad and they didn't concern him. But now, now everything was different they were one of _them_ now. And one of the rules of being one of there kind was '_know thy brethren'. _

When Riku heard who the boys were paired up with for the spars, his immediate reaction was surprise_._

'_I didn't understand his motives, at all. Maybe Kakashi was just bored... but one thing was for certain and that was nobody was expecting those fights to turn out the way they did. I knew that they were different but, to not know about your abilities after hitting maturity is unheard of! (2) Unless they really are young and just hit maturity...' _

"Oi! Is it okay for those guys to be talking with the Mystic losers?" Shido asked with irritation still evident in his voice. He pointed to where Roxas was animatedly talking while everyone else paid rapt attention to his tale._ 'How in the seven hells could they be of the same kind?'_ He wondered.

"Hai, the more information they collect the better it is for us." Sasuke replied also studying the group with bored but calculating eyes.

Riku turned to Sasuke, "What if they're doing more than just gathering information? What if they genuinely like them?"

"Ri-otou... you're not kidding are you?" Sasuke was startled for a second but keep his emotionless façade up. That didn't fool Riku's sharp eyes though.

"Reading people's emotions is _my_ job, remember?" Riku said with a slight smile

"Hmm... Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Roxas, and Axel huh? It's odd to see them take such an interest in strangers." Ban remarked with a quirk of his lips

"If they weren't ranked right underneath us then I'd kick their asses for even thinkin' about mixing up our name with the likes of them! (3)" Shido growled.

"Calm yourself ahou, you look more dumb than usual," Sakura spat at him as she made her way up to her kin. She was annoyed and all it took was to hear that stupid threat to start her off.

"Urusai"

"..."

"..."

"Sasuke you really need to get a bigger vocabulary," Ban teased.

The raven glared in kind, "I would use my current one to its full capacity if I was certain that you'd be able to understand me."

"Touchy," Shido mocked finally calming down some.

"What do you make of them?" Sasuke decided to change the subject. He once again turned his attention to the group of boys below him. Everyone looked over there as if the answer would just jump out at them

"I dunno, even though we know their secret now it feels as if we haven't gotten anywhere at all!" Sakura huffed, while seating herself between Sasuke and Riku. She braced her head on Riku's shoulder and he brought his right hand up to slowly start combing his deft fingers though her short silky locks.

Ban's eyebrow rose as he turned to Ino. "Did you know as well?" he asked curiously.

"Hai, we figured something was up on their first day here. And when Kazuki-kun and Sora-chan showed up with their flashy entrances... it only confirmed that they were hiding something." Ino stated as an after thought as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

'_And here I was thinking that we could keep them in the dark for just a bit longer, these girls are getting too smart!' _Ban's sly smile almost went unnoticed.

Then all at once everyone turned to Shido. "What the heck are you all staring at?" he yelled as he started sweating. Now it was Sasuke's turn to have a bit of fun. He smirked at him making him gulp audibly.

"Exactly how long did it take _you_ to figure out that something was up?" He asked casually. His smirk was growing slightly wider as Shido stalled for time, deciding whether to lie or not.

"This..." He grumbled.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you, speak up Shido-nii" Riku teased lightly in a soft voice playing along with Sasuke and Ban's game.

"This morning damnit!" He hollered his face went completely red as he realized that he drew the attention of everyone else in the in the room as well.

Everyone had their laugh at his expense, even Sasuke was trying to hide his grin behind his fisted palm, barely succeeding.

"You only manage to make a fool of yourself, every time you open your mouth," a monotonous voice spoke. A smirking red head quietly sat himself next to Sasuke, with a long haired brunet following suite.

"Gaara, Neji it's been a while." Ban acknowledged them with a nod of his head.

"You saw us this morning Ban-sama," Neji countered dryly.

Shido finally snapping out of his shock glared and turned the other way. He only took Gaara's joking insult because he was rather fond of the use-to-be loner. And he knew without a doubt that Gaara understood him better than most seeing as they both preferred the company of solitude every once in a while.

* * *

"We need to figure out a few things before we can group you off." Kakashi said absently finally closing his book and tucking it away into one of his many cargo pants pockets.

"Things like what?" Ginji asked curiously.

"How fast you learn, how well you can control your abilities, and how much your real endurance level is." Axel supplied.

"This is going to be a long afternoon isn't it?" Sora asked.

Kakashi glanced at the still frozen students. "It depends... but for now we should just focus on getting everyone's memory wiped clean so there's no incident later."

"Man that's just creepy, no matter how many times I see it!" Naruto whispered harshly and quivered.

"And exactly how are we supposed to do that?" Ginji asked silently agreeing with his brother, he was no skeptic but he was curious.

"Ino should do the trick." A familiar voice echoed out. The group of teens turned to the owner of the voice only to be greeted with a sight that made some of them want to hightail it out of there.

Ban stood with one leg bent slightly on a higher bleacher so that he could drape an arm across it. Surrounding him were the terrors Naruto had come to loath.

"Ino what's an Ino?" Sora spoke softly unconsciously tilting his head to the left.

"Not 'what'... you mean 'who'." Ino chimed enthusiastically.

"I'm at your service" She added.

"What are you gonna do?" Sora questioned again. The boy seemed so full of them lately he thought he was gonna burst.

"Magic..." Sakura grinned.

"Magic? Really?" Sora could hardly contain himself.

* * *

Naruto wasn't exactly sure on how he should be feeling, there were a whole jumble of emotions fluttering around in his stomach. The first time he had seen magic was at his old school's talent show. He had been stunned when watching; he'd never seen anything more amazing in his life! But then all the other kids had to ruin it for him by telling him exactly how the tricks were done. After that the tricks just didn't have the same spark as they once held.

'_But today was unbelievable!'_ It really seemed as if Ino knew actual spells. Although, Sakura explained that they weren't spells at all. Ino was what they referred to as a _telepath. _She literally reached into their minds and blanketed their memories with false ones. Erasing them would have left a giant gap in which false memories couldn't fill. Naruto watched as she almost collapsed with over exertion afterwards. It was a pretty big job and despite her hostility with him he still felt worried for her.

After that incident they all went straight to class and was told to meet back in the gym after classes were over for the day. Naruto was so high-strung he couldn't pay attention to any of his remaining lessons. He just watched as the clock ticked by waiting for the damn bell to ring already.

Well now that the bell had wrung and he was once again making his way towards the gym. Realization dawned on him that he never really looked around what was now his temporary home. He paused in the halls to get a hold of his bearings. He was close to the breezeway, and he knew this because he had been following a few of the students from Kakashi's class. He knew his way from here and decided to explore a bit.

(Que music _'The Chairman's Waltz )_

The massive grandeur halls were decorated with old paintings and life sized marble figurines both male and female alike. There were even a few mythical creatures thrown into the mix. Some of them were quite beautiful; where as some of their faces were twisted in haunted or malicious expressions. Naruto stopped to study a few and almost gasped at how realistic they looked. It didn't matter if they were beautiful, cruel, or tortured looking; they all held this eerie life like quality that drew you in. The more he stared the more frantic he became on the inside and tranquil he became on the outside.

He was snapped out of his revere by a pair of running feet that sounded suspiciously like a child's. Only when the sound stopped did he realize he was completely alone and not a single sound save for his own breathing could be heard. His heart sped up as he chided himself for being afraid of nothing.

"Hello? Hello is anybody there?"

Only silence answered him.

"Guys you've had your fun and it isn't funny anymore!" still no answer.

'_It's okay Naruto this is just some freaky coincidence, just go back down the hall make the left and the breezeway to the gym is right there!' _

Naruto walked briskly not wanting to spend a moment more by himself in this eerie hallway. The feeling he got wasn't a subtle one at all. He felt it, the look on his back that sent spine chilling fear racing throughout his core.

'_Sasuke?' _

He whipped his head around only to see a slowly dimming hallway. _'No it's not Sasuke... i-i- it's that thing from the forest!' _

The shadows crept silently along the walls. Naruto had no idea when he had started to run, but he was going at an all out sprint when something suddenly seemed terribly wrong.

'_Where is the end of the hall way? I didn't walk this far down!' _The raven was ready to burst into tears when he saw it. He hooked the first left and felt his blood run cold.

There was no hallway, just a statue of a man that wasn't really a man. He was hideous yet held an unearthly beauty, an oxymoron if there ever was one. He stared mockingly at Naruto, a twisted smirk that seemed to challenge the boy's sanity.

'_No!...nonono! this, this isn't happening!' _His whole body trembled as he stumbled backward and tried to take off once again. Whatever it was, was gaining on him and his instincts were screaming at him to just run.

Another turn was coming up and it was to his right this time. He barreled into the door without a second thought only to freeze where he stood.

(Que music '_A Narnia Lullaby'_)

This room, if it could even be called that, was massive, from the thirty foot ceiling to the seemingly wall less space. It had art decorating every corner. But it wasn't normal art... death... pictures of the tortured dying, or the dead corps exploited, littered the far off walls.

Marble Statues scattered across the floor, but these were different from the ones he was admiring earlier. It was as if they were frozen in sheer terror while gazing upon a nightmare only they could see. Some where kneeling with their hands attempting to shield their face while others lay sprawled across the floors, but the marble statues all had one thing in common... they were bathed in blood. There was so much blood, it made him physically ill.

Naruto could feel his legs give out as he fell to the floor. He was unmindful of the blood as it seeped through his pants. Icy fingers caressed the nape of his neck and his body urged him to move. He stumbled to his feet and ran in any direction that wasn't the one he just came from. He had tears pouring down his face as he scrambled for a door a few yards in front of him. He yanked and pushed at it but the doors refused to budge.

He banged on the door with all his might fearing that his heart would burst out of his chest. When he was about to loose all hope it finally it gave and he came tumbling out and stumbled right into somebody's chest.

(Que music end)

Arms wrapped around him as he struggled fiercely to get away. "Naruto?" a curious voice called out. Naruto looked sharply up and couldn't help what he did next.

"Sasuke!" Naruto was now safely buried within the raven's arms while shoving his head into his chest, but he couldn't stop trembling.

"What's going on here?" commanded the sharp voice.

Naruto lifted his head to peer into demanding inquiring eyes.

"I'm not c-c-crazy! I I-I'm not!" He stuttered.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow "Make some sense will you ahou?"

"I-I-I don't know! Everyone's gone! I can't find my way out... its behind me... there were so many statues, an..and so much blood! Don't let it get me please..." The nerve racked teen trailed off through gritted teeth.

He hated this! He hated being weak but right now the only safe haven was in the bastards arms and he'd be damned before he gave up the only human contact he had!

"What are you going on about moron?" Sasuke made to open the door but Naruto grabbed his arms in a tight hug that trapped his appendages.

"_**NO**_!" he was shaking twice as bad. Naruto lifted his head only to realize with cold dread that he was right back where he began in that same endless hallway. Oh god... they were standing in front of the same door he entered through!

'_No...no...nononono! This can't be happening it's a different door I know it is! It has to be! I ran clear across the room!'_

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, _'something is really off here.'_

He easily shrugged Naruto off of him but before the raven could protest he grabbed him in a one armed hug and began to drag him to the door.

Naruto at this point couldn't even find it in him to curse the asshole, he was stuttering too much to get a coherent sentence out. _'What if he's trying to feed me to that thing? ...oh god no, please no! ANIKI PLEASE I NEED YOU!' _Naruto begged in his mind for his brother to save him as he trashed around in Sasuke's arms to escape.

If that stupid bastard wanted to die then that was his problem! He didn't give a damn about that bastard but he wanted to live and that was that!

To say Sasuke was annoyed would be the understatement of the year. He gave Naruto a good hard look before taking action. His arm held his waist just a little tighter, as his other one cupped the chibi's face titling it upwards. Their height difference glaringly obvious now more than ever. He leaned down and pressed his lips against the now still ones in front of him.

Naruto stared back in shock at the obsidian eyes looking at him for any type of reaction. There was something about his eyes that made him unable to look away. They were no longer black but a beautiful crimson red with three tomes spinning lazily about. Naruto felt relaxed as his eyes slowly drifted shut and he leaned into the kiss, all his previous fears forgotten.

'_Relaxed yet dobe?' _ The young teen could feel Sasuke's smirk pressed against his lips.

'_Bastard what the hell did you do!' _Naruto really didn't have the energy to be confused. So they were talking while their mouths were busy with something more interesting, big deal! He'd freak-out over this properly later. Right now he just wanted to get as far away from this door as humanly possible.

Sasuke finally parted and stared down into hazy eyes. "Ready?"

His response was an apprehensive stare, while his lax muscles refused to go stiff again.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt."

Naruto continued to just stare at him, his face was as void as it ever was but there was determination in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around the Uchiha's waist and gave him a nod.

Sasuke opened the door and peered inside.

"There's nothing here bak..." He started but quickly trailed off. The room looked like any normal study that they had posted around the manor. A few aged bookshelves and a couple of wooden desk and chairs, there was nothing special about the furnishing. But something was there. Sasuke peered into the dark and his eyes visibly widened while his body stiffened. He slammed the door shut.

"Time to go." Sasuke said briskly.

"Sasuke wha...?" Naruto attempted to pull away before Sasuke began to move.

Everything was a blur, it was hard to differentiate their surroundings but Sasuke could see perfectly. He looked down every so often too see the shivering child in his arms. That's exactly what he was at the moment, a child. He could smell the fear as it seeped out of him. Sasuke hadn't known him long or even well but he was a pretty good at judging ones character (much like his brothers). And he knew by instinct that this emotion, this fear, was a completely foreign thing to Naruto.

So he did something that was completely uncharacteristic of himself. He held Naruto closer as the smaller boy attempted to curl up even more into him. Naruto was being carried in a manner similar to the way Ginji had held him just two days ago.

Had this have been any other person Sasuke wouldn't have even spared them a second glance. But as his conscious kept reminding him, _'He's different, there's something strange about him...'_ Something about him that made him frustrated enough to want to kill the boy in his arms but also just hide him away from the world.

'_Pft, he's no girl and he seems capable enough of keeping himself alive.'_

Sasuke reached the first left and turned to face a dead end wall with a statue base that stood empty. Without hesitating a single moment, he leapt at the wall and went straight through it.

* * *

Once on the other side, the chatter of bustling students reached Naruto's ear. As he was placed on his feet he looked around only to realize that he was in front of the breezeway.

But strangely enough he really didn't want to let go of Sasuke. It was as if he was his anchor to this reality.

Naruto let his fingers uncurl and fall away from Sasuke's shirt. He took a step back and silently demanded answers that the older teen wasn't prepared to give. And just as Sasuke's nature dictated, he waited patiently for Naruto to voice his questions.

"What just happened?" His voice quivered and his face was ashen. He vaguely noted that there was not a spot of blood to be seen anywhere on him.

"It was a miss used jutsu, nothing more dobe."

"A what?" Naruto breathed in disbelief.

Sasuke wordlessly turned around and entered the breezeway assuming Naruto would get the message.

He wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He wanted to deny everything but the images played over and over again like a broken record in his head.

Naruto was enveloped in strong arms as soon as he entered the gym.

"Daijoubu ka otouto?" questioned a worried but calm voice.

"I don't know..." He stayed like that for a few moments trying to regain his composure.

As Ginji pulled away Naruto latched onto his arm. "Please...?" '..._don't leave me alone right now'_

"Of course not, let's go." Ginji gave him a warm smile and lead him to the bleachers.

* * *

The rain was still pouring hard outside but no one could really pay attention to it. Everyone's attention was glued to the new students, because once again they shocked everyone. They somehow managed to be placed under the direct tutelage of not one but both of the instructors, Hatake Kakashi and Squall Leonhart.

Kakashi and Squall were in charge of all the special student's but they themselves only ever trained the best of the best. Which was precisely why everyone was so baffled, the boys couldn't even _control_ their abilities! Leon and Kakashi were great guys but they were real hard asses when it came to training, how they would deal with the group was beyond anyone's imagination.

As everyone was preparing to leave, Kakashi approached his new students.

"Before you go there is one more thing that needs to be done." He said cheerfully.

His red eye was no longer idle as the iris was surrounded by three spinning tomes similar to Sasuke's.

He stepped up to Sora first as he preformed hand seals that were two fast to decipher. He repeated the steps two more times for Naruto and Ginji before placing his hands together and shouting, "KAI!"

Ginji felt a rush of blood travel throughout his veins but he watched in amazement as his two youngest brothers took on a sudden growth spurt.

Sora was no longer skinny and gawky looking, but tall and slender with lean muscles, His face lost all traces of baby fat and high cheek bones were accented by the curves of his face. His hair was longer and a bit more tamed, lightening almost drastically from its dark chocolate brown color to a shade of rich caramel shot through with natural blonde and brown highlights. Bangs grew out long enough to brush his right brow bone and his wide innocent eyes were a little narrower.

Naruto's transformation was just as, if not more impressive. His build was bigger than Sora's with broader muscles that lead down to a slender waist. He stood about four inches taller than Sora, but still half a foot shorter than Ginji. His hair went from black to shocking blonde in a matter of seconds and his brown eyes bled into bright azure. His face was no longer rounded but gently angled. And like Sora, wide innocent eyes narrowed a bit accentuating his true age.

Naruto and Sora ached like hell but the three were left gawking at each other unable to fully comprehend what the heck was going on. Ginji's now blonde hair was bright enough to put the damn sun to shame, and his eyes were the warmest hazel that showed even more of his soulful emotions. And like the other two brothers, the baby fat melted straight off his face to reveal the smooth angles that were once lost to his plump cheeks. His frame was also leaner, more powerful than before.

Naruto really couldn't handle anything else so he did what any sane person would do, he fainted.

TBC...

* * *

Side Notes

1- They're different generations, in other words think of it like the Naruto world where the nin nine, team Gai, and the sand siblings are considered a different generation from Kakashi, Iruka, and so forth.

2- Maturity is normally hit around the same time of puberty somewhere between 11 and 13 years old. So if you're considered one of _their_ kind then that's when your formal training starts. But keep in mind that Riku forgot about Ginji when thinking this particular thought...wink wink...the pieces will come together eventually.

3- Ranking is done by using two factors. The first one being that it is done according to whose gang you're in, and the second one being that it goes by strength. So the highest ranked in the Hebi group is not considered the highest in another gang. Shido really wouldn't want to pick a fight with those boys because they hold almost as much power as he does, (or if not more wink wink). Sasuke and Ban, rank the highest, then Riku comes in second and Shido in third. Yes Riku is stronger than Shido.

Review Reply:

Tenshi-Tsubasa201: sorry this is so late I hope you're still reading it though!

imhappynessinabottle: I'm so sorry this is so late I was going to wait till the weekend to post this but I felt guilty enough.

Lazy-Hime: so what did you think? I hope I get some feedback from you because I know this chapter really wasn't up to my writing standards. And I know you have really good advise so please help me?

deadly-grace: Thank you so much for your review! You have no idea how happy I was to hear that someone noticed they weren't related but it really didn't matter in the least bit. Thanks for paying attention! And as for your other assumption, I guess you'll have to wait just a little longer to find out, ne?

Demonic-Angel-Kamui: Hi there thank you for your review! How goes the story? Did you write one yet? If so let me know will ya I need some new reading material, (wink...wink) any way good luck!

asianlove14: wow you're probably wishing me a gruesome death right now but no worries I won't go down with out a fight. And I'll fulfill your request, promise.

makacatori: OMG when I read your review I almost cried! You made me feel so special! I apologize profusely for this extremely late update and I would really like to know your opinion on the shorter chapters quicker updates thing I mentioned earlier.

Ryou-la-lune: Well now that the update is finally here would you mind giving your opinion on the chapter? I would appreciate it!

realdarkangel: I promise to keep that in mind but please keep in mind that there are three main pairings two semi-main parings and a helluva lot of side pairings.

Kichi Hisaki: You make me laugh very much, so for that I thank you! And I love funny reviews so kudos to you for putting a smile on my face.

DarkRavie: thank you very much, and I look forward to hearing from you again. ;)

Wierdchick: I hope you liked the dedication, and you're very smart for putting it together by the way. Can I please have your opinion on the 'shorter chapters quicker updates' issue? And also you requested the free website, so here it is; regarding your other review, if you read the part where Naruto bumped into Kiba and the gang for the first time, there if a major in- your- face kinda hint about those two. Lol

-C-heese -C-ake -CC- : Jeez...made you wait really long with that cliffy I'm sorry and I hope your still reading this story!

frogger666: Lmao did you drink sugar? I'm sorry please don't get offended but it sounds like you were having a sugar rush! Which by the way is totally cool because I'm like that on a really good day! And it's really nice to know that I'm not the only one out there that writes reviews like that. You made me laugh so thanks a bunch! ;)

SpiritWolf341: I hope you can forgive me for taking that long to update. I really didn't mean to end it at a cliffy this time around either but I have a real problem ending chapters, I have no idea how to!

Kitsune Twins: Thanks a bunch for the review did you like this chapter as well?

Ayan : I hope you noticed your dedication! Please forgive me I really am truly sorry! And how do you feel about the shorter chapters quicker updates? And I know how you feel about waiting for a story I've been waiting on one for two years already...needless to say she hasn't updated yet. And thus the reason for my guilt.

fox in the rough : Thanks a bunch for the review!

SilverKitsune18: It's not really a disguise... I hope this chapter clears it up a little bit more.

MidnightAngel17: You got your wish my dear and I hope you like your dedication! By the way the childish and responsible was Ginji; the stubborn and protective was Naruto; the calm and collected was Kazuki; and the hyper and loving was Sora. Hope that helps somewhat ;) and if you need info on The GetBackers let me know I'll try to help as much as I can.

GLASS NEKO : Thank you vary much for your review!

Berry : I'm sorry I took so long but here it is!

Dragon77 : I'm really sorry that I couldn't respond to you right away, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Inuki-Uchiha : I promise I'm gonna finish the story so no worries k?


	6. Whispers in the dark

_**Author's Note**_: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.

_**Cue Music:**_ (1)The Dead Matter Track 18: Lullaby

* * *

"The Angel's Requiem"

_**And the Angels sing of the damned...** _

_When the ever faithful have turned away _

_And prayers are graced with silence _

_But salvation lie's within their fears _

_And the ever present quiet _

_**And the Angels sing of the fallen... **_

_When temptations vice entices _

_For false promises enraptures _

_The easily swayed _

_When hearts are shattered and crying _

_**And the Angels sing of the broken...** _

_When alluring sins enthralls _

_For gossamer strands will blind the truth _

_When hope has yet to fade away, _

_And the songs are all but gone._

* * *

Kakashi swiftly made his way through the maze like hallways. His form blended seamlessly into the shadows of the dark corridors. He needed to find Leon and he needed to find him _now_!

There was no doubt in his mind as to '_what'_ those children were but he needed Leon to confirm '_who'_ they were. The problem was they had no idea where to start looking for answers. Leon hadn't been there to witness anything so explaining the situation would take a while.

Kakashi made it a habit to collect background information on all his students. But from what he understood Ginji, Naruto, Kazuki, and Sora didn't _have_ backgrounds.

There were only a handful of generations with _their_ people that still existed right now. Or as they were more commonly known as... the Myths and Legends of the world. They had been there since before man had been able to walk on the earth. And they existed even now after everything was said and done.

In the earlier generations they lived a harmonious life with mankind, but as the people evolved so did their greed. The creatures were forced into hiding but they controlled everything from where no one would suspect anything. In other words... the world was being run by what some considered noting more than a child's mere delusion. It was uproarious in fact to think who_ really_ controlled the governments, the Monarchy's, the black market, and the gangs all across the world. What would people actually say if they knew that their _make-believe creatures_ ran the world?

The eldest generation was the _Ancients_. They were the higher-ups that pulled all the strings from the shadows. None but a select chosen few had ever really seen them. With time and age, their generation's number had dwindled but their powers increased.

The second eldest generation was titled the Anbu. They were the ones who were to inherit the title of _Ancient _should the time arise.

The younger the generation the weaker their powers were, that's just how it went with very few exceptions to the rule.

Now a generation didn't go by _years _like a humans would...no that would mean thousands upon thousands of generations existing at once. It was too complicated to keep track of, so _their _generations went by centuries. Everyone who was born within five centauries was considered one generation. For example if someone was to be born in the year of 2000, and then another creature was to be born in the year of 2500, they would be considered the same generation. Starting from the year 2501, another generation would be created. It wasn't possible to sire your own child within your generation either. You had to wait 5 centuries before you were ready for the task.

Almost every couple of millennia the eldest generation slowly died off and a new one takes charge. Since everyone is around the same age they reproduce at generally the same time. And right now was definitely _not_ the time to reproduce. So where had those children come from?

Kakashi didn't understand how fledglings could contain such power. It was obvious that they had just hit maturity because it was physically impossible to not know about your ability when it decided to come forth. Not only that but it seemed as though there was a binding spell placed on them to delay the process. It made them very unstable and their repressed powers had just exploded. There were several unanswered questions...

Who would do such a thing? And why?

Where had they come from?

And where were their parents?

Kakashi snorted, _'I_ already _met their parents though.'_

* * *

_(Flashback) _

"Naru-chan? Hey Naru-chan get up..." Ginji gently slapped Naruto's face in hopes of bringing him around. He felt dizzy and sick himself.

"O-OI...OTOUTO WAKE UP!" He was getting desperate now that Naruto was unresponsive. A hand gently gripped his shoulder.

"Let's take him to his room he's probably exhausted." Kakashi gently lifted the boy in his arms and absentmindedly noted that his clothes, even though they still swamped his frame, was now excessively short.

Sora wasn't fairing so well himself, Kazuki hefted Sora on his back noting the sudden weight the boy had put on. Sora clung to him like a giant Koala and promptly fell asleep.

Ginji stood up from his crouching position and almost fainted on his feet.

"Whoa, easy there speedy."

An arm wrapped around Ginji's waist and pulled the tired boy into a firm muscled chest. He vaguely noted Ban's concerned gaze before turning to face Kakashi and Kazuki.

"Let's get them to their bed." He smiled softly though it was very strained. With the help of Ban the three made their way to the East Wing.

They would have made it there to if it weren't for the two furious but worried men baring their path.

"_What happened?_" The brunette was all over the boys within the blink of an eye.

The blonde however, took more time in assessing their states. His eyes grew wide as he took in their appearance. He almost didn't recognize them.

"What the hell happened to them and who removed their bind?" That, Kakashi had not been expecting. The two male, what he assumed to be teachers, looked pretty ordinary. He didn't feel any particular energy come from them either, so how did they know about the bind?

"Who are you?" he asked instead, ignoring the question.

Cloud gestured to the topics of their discussion. "We're there adoptive fathers, now answer the question. And what's with the blonde hair and growth spurt?" He replied coldly clearly not it the mood for any mind games.

"A bikkurishita!" his surprise was genuine as he overlooked the two men. (1)

"I had no idea they had two fathers, and such young handsome ones at that. It must be hard raising four boys together."

"N-no we're not together, just best friends." The brunet stuttered red in the face.

'_How adorable!'_ Kakashi was immediately taken with the shy looking man.

"May I inquire your names?" he smirked.

Cloud studied the man in front of him with careful eyes. He was a handsome man with a charming personality it seemed. And with that same personality he was skillfully avoiding the question.

"I'm Strife Cloud and that's Umino Iruka. Now that that's out of the way, who are you and what happened to their binds?" Cloud was a stubborn one. He would not be deterred by a handsome face and pretty words.

"Hatake Kakashi and what interesting names you have. A Cloud and a Dolphin, how cute!"

Iruka took one look at the boy's conditions and his face sobered at the sight.

"Please don't avoid the question Hatake-san." Iruka's voice was stern and his glare was fierce.

"Kowai! Please, Kakashi is fine, I'm not one much for formalities. And more importantly I think the proper question is how did they get there in the first place?" Kakashi's smile was eerie.

Ban watched the exchange with rapt attention. So now the teachers were related to them too? How much more secrets could these boys possibly hide from them?

Never had he seen such a technique quite like what they were referring to as _binding_. It appeared to him as something that was used to somehow repress their power for a prolonged period of time.

"It's none of your business! I'll ask one last time, you're trying my god damn patience! _Who took the damn seal off?_" Iruka was surprisingly short tempered.

"I did." It was curt and short, but suited the situation just fine.

"What right did you have? You shouldn't mess with things you don't understand!" Iruka half growled, half yelled.

"Considering they were about to kill three of my students I believe I had every right." Kakashi wasn't smiling anymore. He did a perfect impression of Sasuke's expressionless face, and his voice was mocking.

"As to your other question, the change occurred when the seal was reversed. It was a clever little concealment trick."

Cloud felt a dead weight hit the bottom of his stomach. Iruka looked like he would collapse at any given moment.

"W-what?" His voice trembled as he stared at the man.

"Their pent up energies exploded because it reached its limit. And that was only a small sum of what's _still_ in them. Now I think it's time I asked a few questions of my own. How did you know of the binding if you just _adopted_ them?"

'_Oh shit!' _This man wasn't just a smooth talker, he was piecing the together the missing pieces of the puzzle.

"Or are you one of us?" Ban had finally spoken and he drew the attention of every conscious person in the hallway.

"What do you mean?" Iruka looked at him with wonder.

"Never mind," Ban figured that if they didn't know about them from the get go, then it wasn't his place to blow _their_ secret.

"These boys are now under my care. And they will do as I see fit.."

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THE..."

"Do me a favor and shut up for a minute will you?" Kakashi was glaring at Iruka's outburst.

"You know _nothing_ of the children you have in your custody. And it's dangerous for them to live in a state of mind where they don't even understand the changes happening around them!"

"Don't assume you know everything. Do you think that they would willingly follow you?" Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to rationalize his thoughts.

Kakashi took a deep breath in order to calm himself. "I'm not taking them away from you. There's just a part of their life you could never understand," he finished solemnly looking away.

'_Maybe it's best for them, we cannot interfere...we can only standby and watch. We can only make sure they stay alive.' _Cloud reached his hand forward and gently brushed the hair out of Naruto's eye. He looked at Kazuki as if realizing for the first time he was there. Kazuki refused to meet his eyes opting to stare at the floor instead.

"If anything happens to them I'm coming after you, understand?"

Kakashi smiled at him and nodded in approval. "I promise to take care of them as if they were my own."

That seemed to be enough for Cloud for he nodded his head and returned his smile albeit a little uneasily.

"We should get them to bed now." Kazuki's gentle voice rung out, he was smiling to.

'_What an interesting outcome. Are they fine knowing that they will be omitted from part of their sons lives? Maybe 'their' secret isn't that safe...' _Ban shifted the sleeping Ginji on his back as they all continued their short journey to the boy's rooms.

It would have been quite except Kakashi was shamelessly flirting with his English teacher. Ban winced, when Kakashi found something he wanted, he would get it no matter what... After all, that's how he, Sasuke, and Riku ended up here _every. damn. time_...

_(End Flashback)_

* * *

Leon was going to have a field day with that one. He never did get his answer as to how Iruka and Cloud knew about the binding. He figured he'd wheedle it out of them later, for now he had much more important things to worry about. Like...

'_Where the hell was Leon when you needed him?'_

* * *

(Cue Music The Dead Matter Track 18: Lullaby)

Naruto awoke with a start, flying into an upright position as he did so. He was drenched in a cold sweat and his breathing pattern was irregular. Trembling, his teeth were chattering.

It was freezing cold and abnormally so. He could see his breath in puffs as he let slow shaky gasps of air fill his lungs. Just like the last time, he was completely alone upon awakening.

'_That had to be the worst nightmare I've ever had!' _His jumbled mind managed to spit out amidst his raging thoughts.

Although, Naruto had no idea if that particular thought had any truth to it. After all, he couldn't even recall anything from the previous year.

A violent tremor danced across his spine and forced his mind into the 'here and now' so to speak. Naruto noticed his room was shrouded in darkness and try as he might, he simply couldn't make anything out.

But he heard it, the quite shuffling near his expansive vanity. He closed his eyes to strain his ears in hopes of hearing something more distinctive.

"_**...Ka..Kai...Kaijin..." **_

Naruto's blood froze in his veins as the raspy voice whispered in his ear. Mental images bombarded his senses one after the other.

_...A chill raced up Naruto's spine as frozen digits yet again caressed his skin... _

_...It didn't matter if they were beautiful, cruel, or tortured looking, they all held this eerie life like quality that drew you in..._

_...He was snapped out of his revere by a pair of running feet that sounded suspiciously like a child's... _

_...he realized he was completely alone... _

_...There was no hallway, just a statue of a man that wasn't really a man. He was hideous yet held an unearthly beauty... He stared mockingly at Naruto, a twisted smirk that seemed to challenge Naruto's sanity... _

_...But it wasn't normal art... death... pictures of the tortured dying, or the dead corps exploited littered the walls... _

_...It was a miss used jutsu, nothing more dobe... _

_...Sora was no longer skinny and gawky looking, but tall and slender with lean muscles... _

_...Ginji's now blonde hair was bright enough to put the damn sun to shame, and his eyes were the warmest brown... _

"_**..Mi...Mine..." **_

"_IIIIIEEEEEEE..." _

(End Cue Music)

* * *

"_...EEE!" _

"Otouto! Otouto daijoubu ka?" There were hands pinning him down and Naruto just screamed harder.

"ME O AKETE ONEGAI! (2)" Ginji held his breath as he shook Naruto almost violently. He stopped thrashing and let the voice of his brother sooth him.

"A-Aniki?" Naruto stretched his arms out wordlessly reaching for his safe place.

"I'm right here...sshhh." Ginji cradled him and rocked him back and forth as a mother would her baby.

As Ginji held him he was once again reminded of how big Naruto suddenly was. A sad smile graced his face when he thought of that.

"That must've been some dream, huh?" A slender hand slipped through his bangs and ruffled it lightly.

Though the hand was bigger and the voice was deeper, Naruto would recognize that touch anywhere.

"Mmm...So-chan, Aniki, how are you guys feeling?" He turned his head to take in their expressions. He wanted to forget that nightmare, it had felt so real. He could still feel the chill in the air and hear the rasp in the voice. He suppressed the urge to shudder once more, _'Wouldn't want Gin-chan or So-chan to worry_._'_

Sora looked tired but cheerful and Ginji looked happy if not a little dejected and worried. "What's the matter Aniki?"

Ginji sniffed before the waterworks started. "You guys are so big now! I can't lift you at the same time anymore! L-Look..." Ginji tried picking the both of them up just to show them what he meant.

"Aniki, matte-bayo!" Too late, Ginji had already scooped him and Sora up, and as if to prove himself, he fell forward on the bed crushing the two teens.

"Ooii, Gin-niichan my bones...you're squishing my bones." Sora cried out.

"Here let me help you with that!" In an instant the tears stopped and an impish grin took its place. His nimble quick fingers danced up and down their sides making them howl with rancorous laughter unable to escape.

"O-okay!...haha...Okay we..hahah..give!" Sora was tearing and he couldn't breath.

"It's good to see you guys are back to normal again." A stifled chuckle came from the doorway.

"Kazu-nii! Where did you go?" Sora was huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath.

"Class's over for today, I just got back to check on you guys."

"Huh? What time is it? How long did we sleep for?" Naruto noticed for the first time that they were all in their pajamas and his king-size bed seemed to have been fully occupied.

"You guys slept straight though the entire day. Everyone took turns coming to check on you."

"Everyone?" Sora asked curiously.

"Cloud and Iruka- otousan, me, Kakashi, our new instructor Leon a.k.a the math teacher, who by the way is very nice and eto...oh yeah everyone we ate lunch with yesterday came by."

"Anyone else?" Naruto tried to hide his hopeful tone but failed.

Kazuki looked deep in thought as he searched his memory. His eyes lit up and he hurriedly told the rest.

"Sakura and Ino came by for a minute but they left right afterwards."

Now there was a shocker. It was a pleasant one too, unlike all the rest of the things going on lately. Naruto grinned despite himself... _'maybe they weren't so bad after all...'_

"It's dinnertime now, are you guys hungry?" Kazuki's answer was three rumbling stomachs. "I'll take that as a unanimous yes."

"Hurry and brush your teeth, take your showers, and get dressed quickly then."

"Hai, Okasan!" They all chorused together.

* * *

Within fifteen minutes they were all cleaned, dressed and standing in the lunch line.

"I want ramen." Sora pouted. He was completely ignoring the weird stares they were getting. He had had to borrow Kazuki's clothes because none of his fit anymore. Naruto had no problem fitting into Ginji's clothes either. (Although they were even bigger on him than they were on Ginji.)

"When we go to the city this weekend will stock up on some." Kazuki reasoned.

"Yes!" Naruto, Ginji, and Sora pumped their fist in the air victoriously. Out of the four of them, the only one who wasn't obsessed with ramen was Kazuki. Kazuki shook his head in hopelessness.

He looked around the dinning hall in search of a place to sit. It was absolutely packed.

"Where are we gonna sit now?" Sora looked over Kazuki's shoulder in wonder.

"How about dining with us?"

The group was greeted with the smiling face of a beautiful silveret.

"Riku!" Sora called out in surprise.

"Why would we wanna sit with you?" Naruto sneered instead. As far as he was concerned, they were all still assholes. Especially Sasuke!...even if he did save him unintentionally.

'_Che, they're not as badass as they'd like to think they are.' _

Riku blinked in surprised. _'Can't say I wasn't expecting that one...' _

"Think of this as a peace offering." He said smoothly.

Ginji glanced back and forth between the two warily. He had no problems with the younger boy but he wouldn't let another fist fight breakout like what happened with Sasuke.

"No thanks, you can take your fake-ass _offerings_ to someone who would actually believe that load'a shit." Naruto smirked feeling quite proud of himself. The boy didn't look like he'd had any good intentions to begin with.

Never had Arashi Riku been spoken to that way. Everyone loved him, _everyone_... and that wasn't just his cockiness speaking either.

Riku stared at the nerdy looking teen before him before he returned that smirk with one of his own. _'This guy... I gotta hand it to him, he's quick, and he's bold, I like him already. Amano Ginji and Uzumaki Naruto...just what are you playing at?' _

"Heh, I don't think anyone's ever read me so easily before." There was no use in denying it. His mission was simply to gather facts on the odd group standing before him. And he wasn't lying about seeing through his pretenses easily either. Not even Ban or Sasuke could figure him out so easily.

"What do you want Riku-kun?" Ginji's voice was a little mistrusting if only for the fact that Riku had _fessed_ up more or less to the accusation.

"We want to get to know you better, that's all." He watched their faces for a reaction.

"Sorry but we're not interested." This time it was Kazuki who spoke. They turned to leave before Naruto spoke up again.

"For what it's worth, we aren't dirt under your shoe." He looked over his shoulder to face Riku.

"Tell your screwed up gang to get their heads outta their asses first and maybe we'll consider your peace offerings."

Did this boy never hear of the word subtle before? Riku was left speechless for the first time in a long time.

Then he laughed, and laughed hard, gaining shocked looks from everyone around him.

All this time, everyone's been going off about them being stuck-up rich kids who needed to be put in their place. When in reality _they_ were the ones playing boss for everyone when they got bored. Wasn't that the ultimate sign of being, _stuck-up _and_ spoiled_? They wanted everything their way and '_no_' wasn't an option. Well now they had a boy who was ready to give'em hell just to knock them off their high horses. Riku grinned.

'_Irony is such a bitch...'_

* * *

When Sasuke woke up the next morning he couldn't bring himself to roll out of bed. Thoughts of _that room _still plagued his mind.

'_Naruto...'_ everything seemed to be centering around Naruto. It wasn't entirely true but it was close enough. When he'd found the boy two days prior, he thought the dobe was over reacting, or someone was playing a stupid joke. However that didn't seem to be the case. The study he was inspecting was incased in darkness. It would have been normal except someone's presences lingered in the room. The face he glimpsed forever etched within his minds eye, haunted him. He'd seen and experienced some weird things over the span of his life but Sasuke couldn't shake off the _foreboding_ the presences wrought.

He couldn't explain it to the moron when he'd asked because _he_ didn'tknowhimself. He vaguely wondered how Naruto would react when he found that Sasuke had lied to him about the jutsu.

As he tried to figure out just what the heck was going on, Kakashi had given them another mouthful of surprises to swallow. Three out of four were affected by what Ban called the '_bind'_. Kazuki remained untouched. From what Sasuke could see Sora and Naruto grew at an accelerated rate, while Ginji remained fairly neutral. But both Ginji and Naruto turned from brunette to blonde while Sora's hair lighted significantly gaining visible highlights in the process. Ginji, Naruto, and Sora's facial structures seemed to have changed, which in turn made them look older. Sasuke had met shape shifters, and those boys didn't have the aura of one. So exactly what were they?

The puzzling events didn't just stop there either. Ban had told them about the peculiar conversation between Kakashi, Iruka, and Cloud. How much of a coincidence was it, that everything just so happened to go wrong when a group of teenagers and teachers arrived?

He needed answers and he needed to get closer to those boys in order to get them. But it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon with the message Naruto had sent for them with Riku. Stupid Usuratonkachi was making this harder than it needed to be! It seemed as if he'd regressed instead of make progress. Riku and Ban found the whole situation rather amusing. To bad he couldn't say the same for him.

Bang...bang...bang

"Oi Sasuke! You're going to miss your first class if you don't move your ass!"

"Baka Aniki! I'm up already." Sasuke growled back.

"Usotsuki"

"Urusai"

A barking laughter answered him loud and clear.

* * *

Sora loved Iruka-tousan but he hated second band English! He couldn't help it if the rules of grammar and punctuation didn't fascinate him. He doodled absentmindedly in his notebook willing time to go faster by not looking at the clock. Everyone _knows_ that when you look at the clock, the bastard tries to mock you by going backwards instead of forwards, or it slows down instead of speeding up.

It had been ten minutes into the period before he was caught.

"..ra.."

"...Sor..."

"SORA!"

An eraser went soaring across the classroom and connected with his head.

Sora scrambled out of his seat hastily knocking over his chair. "HAI!" he shouted slowly becoming aware of the snickering and giggling going around the classroom. He blushed and resisted the urge to crawl in a whole and stay there.

"Since you missed yesterdays lecture, and your paying such rapt attention to today's lecture I'm assuming you can give me a summary of the Article we're reading.

"Ito...uno.. no?"

"And why pray tell can't you, if you were _so_ into your work that you couldn't even _hear_ me?" Iruka's left eyebrow was twitching, not a good sign.

"Aahh...I was...I was uumm... contemplating why Dolores...umm..why Dolores lied to Vera when she applied for her job! (3)" Sora beamed as Iruka studied him with a skeptical look. Thank god he remembered the book they were currently taking a break from.

"Did she apply before or after she married George?" Iruka questioned. _'Gottcha!' _

'_Chikushou! What to do! What to do!' _Chibi Sora was running rampant in his head tearing his hair out. What? You didn't think Ginji was the only one with one of those little guys running around did you?

"Um... After?"

"YAPPARI! You didn't read anything did you?"

Sora hung his head in defeat, "Iie"

Iruka sighed and scanned the classroom. "Since you honestly don't know what you're doing, we need to partner you with someone who could keep you _focused_."

Hands shot in the air like magic, the girls were practically screaming to pick them for the job.

"I think the safest bet would be...Sasuke."

Sasuke had been quietly watching the scene play out from his window seat. He found it to be a little more interesting than the rain clouds forming outside the window.

Sora dejectedly made his way over to him plopping down in the seat next to him.

"Hi" Sora said nervously.

"Hn." Sasuke greeted back without looking at him.

He didn't feel very comfortable with the beautiful boy. He reminded him of a more silent version of Riku. He was too...evasive. Sora stared for a moment longer before doodling something in his notebook.

He showed it to Sasuke and Sasuke quirked a delicate brow. The picture was simple. Iruka was a giant stick figure with a volcano for a head and apparently he was about to erupt. Around his feet his stick figure students were running around in a panic. Sasuke could distinctly make out Sora's hair on the stick figure trying to put the volcano out.

English class just got a little more interesting, Sasuke thought. Sora grinned as he drew something else. Sasuke was no longer ignoring him, but peering curiously out of the corner of his eye.

The brunette drew him pictures for the rest of the period. Sasuke kept himself occupied by alternating staring at the clouds and watching Sora doodle.

Later, he'd teach Sora how to focus later, he decided.

* * *

Naruto was staring at the board waiting for the last twenty or so minutes to roll by. He had finished his assignment the first ten minutes into the class. He had used the remainder of the time studying his second band math Sensei, Leon. He was going to be his new _special_ teacher after all.

He liked the man so far from what he had seen. He was fair in his lessons and he was lenient to a point. He tried to involve everyone in the discussions so his class was fairly lively. Math was normally torturously slow so Naruto was impressed with Leon's ability to hold his attention.

"For the remainder of the period I'd like to partner you up to complete one more short exercise. Your partners will remain permanent for the rest of the year so be sure to exchange information such as cell numbers and e-mail addresses. Once you're finished feel free to leave."

Naruto didn't mind working with another student... that was until he heard who his partner would be.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Arashi Riku." Naruto didn't even protest this time, it was futile he realized.

"Hey there," Riku greeted him.

Naruto wanted to say _something,_ anything that would let Riku know that he wasn't going to take anymore insults from him. Although, as he thought about it he realized that Riku had never directly insulted him nor his brother. If he'd done it behind his back was a different story all together.

"Morning." He settled his thoughts and decided to let curiosity get the better of him. Naruto wanted to see what Riku would do if given the opportunity to redeem himself.

"So let's get started shall we?"

"You're being extremely nice for someone who's been chewed out not to long ago." Naruto gauged his reaction quietly.

"Eh... It's not in my nature to hold grudges." Riku shrugged. He seemed genuine enough Naruto deemed.

"Che whatever," The newly turned blond turned to work on the assignment. They spoke at minimal only asking questions when necessary. They made quite the team actually. Naruto grudgingly admitted that Riku was useful when he needed to be. The two teens were the first ones done.

As they submitted their paper Leon requested a favor. "If you guys aren't in a rush do you mind giving me a hand in my office?"

Naruto and Riku shared a quick look, "Sure thing." Naruto answered

"Not a problem Sensei." Riku nodded.

"Follow me then." Leon weaved his way through the students making his way towards the backroom.

He unlocked the door and allowed the two boys entry first before following them in. Naruto really should have been use to the grandeur of the whole place by now but he simply couldn't help his reaction. He stood rooted to the spot with his mouth slightly agape.

They were on the top floor of the school and all the walls seemed to be made of glass. The high roof was no exception; it formed a dome that was almost invisible to the naked eye. That meant the whole room was flooded with light and surrounded by the most breath taking view.

The expansive room seemed to be more of a living-quarter than an office. The room was designed studio style. Split in half, the side closest to the glass wall was elevated and had a single step up that lead to the more homey furnishings. On the lower level where they stood, a cherry wood desk with intricate carvings and black leather couches stood to the right side. On the left, polished wooden matching file cabinets occupied the walls closest to the wall dividing the classroom and here.

On the elevated level, a four poster bed sat off to the right side along with a dresser and two nightstands. Towards the center of the room a second elevated platform led to a beautiful but simple dining set. And to the left of the dining set there was a glass spiral staircase that led up to seemingly nowhere. But upon closer inspection there was a broad glass walkway that split into two different directions. One lead to a small platform big enough to comfortably seat a small class and the other lead to a door right above the one Naruto had just entered through, though it was cleverly hidden in the wine colored wall. He assumed it led to the bathroom.

"Do you like it?" Naruto was startled out of his revere by an amused voice.

Naruto noticed that Riku kicked off his shoes and draped himself across one of the leather chairs and had his eyes closed. He followed the example and took his off as well before slowly making his way to an unoccupied couch and sitting in it Indian-style.

He turned to Leon and voiced his concerns. "Theoretically speaking this room shouldn't even exist, should it? Not only are there no nails or screws, but there's no visible seams in this room. How is everything still standing?" Hey, he wasn't in advanced classes for nothin'. He could be smart when he so chose to be.

'_Things in this school just keep getting weirder and weirder,' _he thought.

"You _are _very observant." Leon noted pleased with the question.

"You're right this room was crafted by our people. Humans will never be able to create such a place. No matter how hard they try. Nor will they be able to see it. To them, when they walk in here it's just another small classroom,"

"Are there other rooms like this one?" he questioned again trying to take it all in. Naruto really had to get use to the idea of what normalcy was around here.

"Yes, there are a grand total of three rooms in this manor including Kakashi's room, my room, and the Gateway." Leon answered without missing a beat.

His answers were too readily given, Naruto realized. He narrowed his eyes and tried again.

"A gateway is not a room."

"Maybe, maybe not" Riku finally spoke up.

"Huh? What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nobody's ever actually seen it. We don't know where it is."

"Can't you just look for it outside?" Naruto incredulously asked.

"It's not that easy. Don't you think we've tried that?" The brunette made his way to an arm chair after disposing of his shoes as well.

"So how do you know there's another room if you've never seen it?"

"It's in the history books. They mentioned the gateway but it sounds more like a walkway then a room. Supposedly it was destroyed during the revolutionary period. But something of that magnitude doesn't just... disappear."

"Maybe it's because of that _jutsu_ thing Sasuke was talking about, and what Revolution?" He was staring through the windows to avoid any eye contact. He was afraid that his composure would shatter when faced with the fresh memory of a terrifying emotion he'd never experienced before. Memories of _that_ night bombarded his mind.

"What?" Riku abruptly sat up giving Naruto his undivided attention.

The quick movement startled him out of his thoughts. "Well the other day Sasuke and I ran into something and he said it was nothing but a miss used Jutsu. He wouldn't explain it but I assumed it had something to do with this manor." Naruto was hesitant to divulge any more information.

"Well Naruto, a jutsu is what's part of a series of powerful spells. They could do virtually anything. And that theory would have made sense if they still existed."

Naruto went rigid. "So you mean..."

"Whatever it was that you encountered, wasn't conjured by a spell... it was real."

TBC...

* * *

Side Notes

1) A bikkurishita- What a surprise!

2) Me o akete onegai! - Open your eyes please!

3) The Book is, **Dolores Claiborne** by Stephen King. I really liked it when we read it in my senior year of high school and I highly recommend it. Though I must warn you it's a giant monologue. I think it's the only story written in this particular style but it isn't boring in the least. (Well that's what I think)

**REVIEW REPLIES: **

**-C-heese -C-ake -CC-** I'm sorry this took so long but I finally got it out there. Did you enjoy it?

**ayan** – As always, one of my favorite reviewers ;) You probably want to beat me with a stick right now but that's okay I sit here and take it like I deserve it. SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!

**DarkRavie **- It took me a while to get over my writers block so I wonder ow long this will last for.

**wierdchick** – Did you see your dedication? I love your reviews they get me off my ass and down to work! (err... wait that's the wrong thing to say, I have to sit on my ass to get down to work... You understand what I'm trying to say don't you?)

**FOX IN THE ROUGH **– Short and sweet, thanks for the review none the less ;)

**angelloverkk** – I hope this chapter clears it up a bit for you. They were placed under a spell of sorts. The reason for that yet isn't to clear but the boys have been hinting at it all through the story so far. If it still confuses you let me know and I'll try to explain it better.

**Daisuke Kazamatsuri **- ...Ducks and hides...I"M SORRY!...waves a white flag attached to a stick... I try to get it to my beta but every time I want to post I run late and feel really bad about keeping the fans waiting. So I say to hell with it and post it anyway. I love my Beta she's awesome! But I think like everyone else she'd rather read than look for errors. Was this chapter to your liking by the way?

**GLASS NEKO **– Thank you for the review, hope you like this chapter.

**dimond fox **– Thanks a bunch for the review ;)

**Nusku** – Don't feel bad about the whole Kyuubi idea, I'm sure one of us will think of something. Did ya like the chapter? I hope it explained things a little more clearly

**mimiru-motomia **– Sorry here's your update, hope it wasn't to late.

**Kittyv2 **– O.O whoa good questions...luck for you I can answer some of them, hehehe, Lets see if the boys made their own gang then their order would have to be 1) Naruto and Ginji (they rank the same) 2)Sora and Kazuki (Sora's a little stronger than Kazuki) As for their gang name...hhmmm..I'm not going to spoil that one just yet... And for all the gangs names, it's not really important to the plot. You'll see why as the story goes on. Damn I guess that means I only answered one question...sweatdrop...sorry!

**blue-eyed-blond227 **– Heh glad you like it! I'm a really huge fan of both and I was disappointed when I saw nobody else wrote one. So I took matters into my own hands, and well now you have a story!


	7. Silent as the Grave

_**Author's Note**_: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.

_**Cue Music:**_ Requiem for a dream – Enya

* * *

Cloud was staring at Iruka, irritation clearly written all over his face. Iruka was staring back at him mirroring his expression.

The blonde's class was full in session, but Iruka had a break in his schedule so he decided to join everyone. He claimed he had nothing better to do but Cloud and the boys knew otherwise. He was the mother hen of the group after all, and he was worried.

Everyone was in their respectful groups, but there was still two students missing, hence the irritation.

'_Where could they have gone off to?_' Cloud kept switching glances between the door and the class.

"I'm sure they'll turn up soon." The English teacher tried to reason.

"Iruka you've been saying that for the past twenty-seven minutes." Without removing his eyes from the spot silently willing them to walk through the door, Cloud managed to mumble in reply.

"I just hope nothing happened to them-" Iruka began before he was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.

Cloud was in front of it in a heartbeat. When he opened the door he was met with two vivid grey eyes instead of the expected blue or turquoises.

"Sorry am I interrupting anything?" The voice was as smooth as melted chocolate, and the smile was as alluring as the first time he had laid eyes on it.

Cloud was left staring at the man in bafflement before he was gently moved out of the way.

"No, nothing important. Anyway the students are doing their group assignments." Iruka had been hoping the missing students would show up at the door but when he locked eyes with the stranger he felt a rush of heat settle comfortably on the bridge of his nose. _'My god the man is handsome!' _

"Ah, that's good to hear, I just thought I'd drop these two to class seeing as I held them back and all. Oh, where are my manners? Hi I'm Leonhart Leon and you are?" he held out his hand in offering.

"Oh so your Leon! It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Kakashi's already explained the situation, I'm Umino Iruka." The jovial reply was given as he readily accepted the handshake. Something clicked as the music instructor finally registered his words.

"Who were you dropping to class?" Iruka peered curiously while Cloud finally reacted and questioned since greeting Leon.

The brunette stepped aside to reveal a blonde and a silveret in a quiet heated discussion.

"So that's where they've been." Cloud's voice interrupted the two who finally noticed everyone staring at them.

"Sorry I held them back, we had to discuss an important matter." Leon's smile turned guilty as he regarded the two teachers in front of him.

"Don't worry about it I'm sure they can catch up just fine." Cloud sent the boys off to their respectful seats before turning back to Leon.

"You can come in if you want." He shrugged his shoulders out of habit more than anything else before waiting for a reply.

"I'd like that actually it'd give us some time to talk.

The blonde led the way back to his desk with Iruka and Leon in tow.

* * *

"So, mind explaining what took you so long?" Kazuki's lax demeanor was very misleading. It meant that he wanted answers and he was going to get them now.

Naruto chucked nervously to cover up his fear. "Leon and Riku were explaining things about our history and we just got so caught up we lost track of time."

The three boys stopped all activities and gave him the 'you-don't-expect-us-to-actually-believe-that?' stare.

"Since when, were you on a first name basis with either of them?" Kazuki tried again. Naruto caved at that point.

"Since he said he didn't like to be called, 'sensei', by his special students." He muttered.

Ginji slid his glasses down the bridge of his nose to stare at him knowing it'd make him spit it out already.

"Alright! Alright already! Sheesh..." Naruto threw his arms up in the air in defeat. Ginji beamed, _'Works every time!' _

"I've been having these weird dreams lately, and they were trying to help me figure them out. We went to Leon's office and then I sort of ended up getting a real shocker. You guys should have seen it! It was even more amazing then the indoor gym. Maybe Leon will take you guys later…" He trailed off in thought.

"Naruto!" Three stern voices rang out in unison.

* * *

"Okay, okay... two days ago I was on my way to the gym when I decided to explore..."

"What did Leon want with you guys?" Sasuke surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, asked.

"We had a rather interesting discussion actually." Riku started.

Sasuke arched a single brow and waited for him to continue.

Riku leaned in so his mouth was directly aligned with Sasuke's ear. "What exactly did you run into two days ago Sasuke-niisan?"

Sasuke's body went rigid, "How..."

"The both of you reeked of blood when you stepped into the room. Kiba, Gaara, Roxas, Axel, and Shido all almost passed out because the stench was so strong. Don't worry they didn't say anything to anyone," He hurriedly said so Sasuke wouldn't avoid the question.

Riku backed up bit to gauge his reaction. Sasuke looked around the group and heaved a sigh. It wasn't good to keep secrets anyway, that lead to problems later on.

"I ran into Naruto..."

* * *

It was pouring outside yet again, so all of the students were stuck in the indoor gym. Classes were over for the day and it was their second official day for special training.

"Since you weren't able to make it yesterday we'll have to partner you up with advanced students to get you up to par. I wasn't here to see how you did the first time around so for today we're going to work on conditioning your bodies." Leon was reviewing the files that Kakashi had put together in one short day. Kakashi for once had his head out of his book and was assessing his students. "I think the best method to use would be the _partnered-groups_."

"Sounds good enough to me," Leon answered back

"What's a partnered group?" Sora was waving his arm slightly to attraction attention.

"Saku..."

"Yeah yeah I know already!" She gave Kakashi the evil eye before turning to Sora and smiled.

'_Whoa, her mood swings are scary!' _his inner chibi commented hiding behind a blanket that popped out of nowhere.

'_Agreed,' _Sora thought back.

"There are four people in a cell and they rotate partners." Sakura walked over to a pale skin boy and yanked his sketchpad and marker away ignoring his cries of protest.

She drew a circle and placed four bubbles on it. Then she proceeded to fill the bubbles in with names and drew arrows leading the names to one and other.

"Do you understand?" She held up the sketchpad and the four nodded their head.

"Well then that takes care of that. Sorry about that Sai." Sakura handed back the sketchpad with the offered apology.

"What did you just call him?" Naruto couldn't believe his ears. _'Not again!'_

"My name is Sai, nice to meet you!"

The blonde almost sighed out of relief when he noticed it was a completely different boy.

"Sorry about that, I mistook you for someone else." Naruto had the decency to look sheepish.

"No problem, think nothing of it." Sai's smile was just a little bit too eerie at that point.

"Err, yea no problem, right..." He turned around to face forward as Leon began to call out groups checking them off as he went along.

"Group 1 will be Fuyuki Shido, Fuchoin Kazuki, Tsukimi Sora, and Arashi Riku."

"Group 2 Amano Ginji, Uzumaki Naruto, Midou Ban, and Uchiha Sasuke," now Naruto _knew_ something was up when he was paired with the bastard yet again.

Kakashi interrupted his though to lazily call out the next group.

"Group 3 Neji, Gaara, Roxas, Axel..." His voice drowned out as he continued to pair everyone.

"I need to know what your abilities are so if you would please demonstrate." Leon stood patiently waiting.

"How do we do that?" Naruto was confused.

"Hn, dobe just remember the feeling you had the first time around and call it out." Sasuke had his eyes closed as he leant against the wall.

"Alrighty then," Ginji closes his eyes in response and concentrated.

After one minute of concentrating he opened his eyes, "Nope sorry I've got nothing."

"Well this isn't getting us anywhere fast." Ban looked at the other special students who were running track.

"Maybe it'll work better if they were exposed to their element." Sakura suggested.

"That might actually work," Kakashi nodded slowly in agreement.

"I've got a lighter" Axel offered up.

"And I've got a pocket flashlight," Neji took it out as he spoke.

"Now where are we going to get lightning?" Shido asked.

"I think all you need is something that conducts electricity." Gaara surprised everyone by actually offering his opinion.

"Wait! Wait a minute, I thought you said we were going to do body conditioning ..." Naruto trailed off.

Leon smirked, "I did and you are."

"What do you mean?" Kazuki was pretty sure body conditioning meant stretching and working on the muscles and such.

"It's a specialty of ours you could say. Our chakra, or energy, works with our muscles and nervous systems to produce optimum results." He explained.

"Oh, okay then." Ginji cheerfully accepted.

Kakashi handed Naruto the lighter, Sora the flashlight and Ginji a florescent light bulb he had pulled from a wall lamp.

"Think about what it is you can create and envision it coming through your hands."

The boys all found a comfortable spot on the floor while Kakashi turned to the rest of the group.

"Since you all already know this stuff, you can either do warm ups or sit and relax. You're pretty much done mastering the basics and quite a few of you already mastered advanced techniques. So go do whatever it is you kids do when you have spare time." He waved them off boredly.

Everyone but the Shimagara no Hebi left. The rest of the large group sat with the three boys on the floor making themselves comfortable. "Kazuki if you don't mind can I see you over here for a second?" Kakashi called him to the side.

Leon took over from there and sat himself on a barstool to the left of the group, this could take a while.

Naruto wasn't getting anywhere! He sighed in frustration. It came out whenever it wanted, Naruto simply couldn't control it. Ginji and Sora weren't making much progress either. It had been over an hour now and no such luck came to them. It was frustrating, tiring, worrying botherso...and if Sasuke didn't stop breathing down his neck, so help him god he was going to kill him!

"Will you _backup_ bastard! Haven't you ever heard of personal space? Kuso..."

Sasuke smirked and leaned in closer, "What's the matter dobe uncomfortable?"

Naruto gritted his teeth in an effort to ignore him. He could understand Kiba and the rest of the gang being there, Hell even Gaara and Neji were welcomed, but what business did Sasuke, Ban, and Shido have there? Riku he could deal with, he didn't really dislike him that much at all anymore. He didn't know when, but Riku's company had become tolerable.

Sasuke gracefully maneuvered himself directly in back of Naruto pressing his chest into his back while folding his legs Indian style.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" Naruto hissed eyeing him warily.

"Dobe, you're going to take all year and _still _not get anywhere. I'm just making sure we all don't turn grey and die before you finally accomplish something."

"Teme! That's none of your concern!" he hollered.

"Actually it is since you're my partner and all. I can't let you drag my perfect marks into the ground simply because you're to slow to figure things out for yourself."

"I think I liked you better when you didn't talk." Naruto glared full force but it was ruined by the pink tinge on his face. You shouldn't have even been able to see it past his big thick glasses and long greasy bangs, but Sasuke did.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, "Really now, I was under the impression that you..._enjoyed _my company." He purred into his ear.

"Asshole if you're going to help then just do it already!" Naruto turned his head away unwilling to look at the seductive rave.

Sasuke inwardly cringed at how easy the whole 'get-Naruto-to-fall-for-you' thing had been. But, sitting behind the boy wasn't as awkward as he'd thought it'd be. In fact it felt a little bit comfortable.

He found it amusing how stiff Naruto had gone when he grabbed his hands. In truth, sitting like this actually happened to be the correct way of interacting with someone else's chakra. The fact that it made Naruto uncomfortable was just a bonus.

"Hold your hands out and cup it together." Sasuke proceeded to place Naruto's hand out in front of him as if he were cupping water. "Now relax usuratonkachi, or else you'll screw this up."

Naruto fidgeted about before taking in a deep breath and forcing himself to relax. He still didn't trust Sasuke. The bastard had a weird way of controlling him against his will.

"Imagine your energy flowing outward through your hands." Sasuke waited for the boy to comply in patience. When Naruto's chakra washed over him, it felt like a warm blanket had wrapped around him. It was calming and Sasuke almost lost himself in it.

He leaned forward and noticed Naruto had his eyes closed. He lit the lighter and let the flame dance in the air over his open palms. When nothing happened Sasuke resisted the urge to yell at the idiot for his clumsiness, it would have been counterproductive.

"You're not doing it right, I said to _relax_." He ground out in frustration.

"_I am_ relaxed you bastard" Naruto spat back. Sasuke grabbed his chin and turned his head towards him. Blue orbs were staring directly into crimson hues before he found himself going completely lax in the raven's arms.

'_What the hell is he doing this time?' _He was about to voice his objection to the situation and demand to know what Sasuke did to him when he was cut to the chase.

"It's to help you relax. It's one of my special abilities, and before you ask, yes it was necessary. Now sit up and let's try this again."

Naruto tried to sit up, he really did, but apparently he was _too_ relaxed. Sasuke sighed as he fully supported the boy's added weight and repeated the same steps as before.

He lit the lighter and let the flame dance in the air over his open palms. He clicked it shut, placed it on the floor next to them, and cupped his hands under Naruto's. Sasuke forced some of his chakra into Naruto's hands and Naruto twitched ever so slightly at the tingling feeling it left.

"When you open your eyes don't panic dobe or you might set something ablaze." Partial annoyance found its way into Sasuke's voice.

"Urusai-tebayo"

The raven's eyebrow twitched in irritation as the imbecile found a way to butcher _his_ word.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and was immediately enraptured by the ball of flame swirling and twirling in the palm of his hands. He smiled a little in genuine content and turned to Sasuke.

"Thanks, I guess," he said awkwardly.

"Hn, don't get too happy yet dobe. You still need to learn how call on your own fire and control it."

"Yeah, yeah way to ruin the mood teme." Although Naruto said that, neither boy bothered to move as they watched the flames swirl around, contently. Had they bothered to notice, they would have realized Sasuke's arm curled loosely around Naruto's waist, and Naruto's head rested in the crook of Sasuke's neck.

It almost went unnoticed but a pair of sad green eye looked on with heartbreaking disbelief.

* * *

Sora stared at the flash light trying to figure out how exactly they expected him to create light from it. He was just about to call it quits when he felt someone settle in back of him. He tilted his head back and blue met with turquoise.

"Uhh..Riku?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing?" Sora blinked before setting his head in an upright position and turning it around to face Riku.

"Well I figured that since I'm your partner I should give you a hand. Nobody actually tells you this but getting started is the hardest part."

"Oh...but why are you behind me then?"

"Because chakra flows better like this and it's easier to stabilize you from behind. Kind of like the concept, _if you fall I'll catch you..._ that sort of thing." Riku waited for permission to continue.

"Oh...'kay then lead away." Sora acted calm and collected but inside he was panicking. Riku was directly behind him for god's sake!

"Before we begin I need you to relax." Riku gently grabbed Sora's hand and rested both of them on his thighs. _'Relax? With you behind me? That's like asking me to stop breathing...'_ Sora forced the thoughts from his head and breathed in deeply.

"M'kay I'm ready."

"Good, now I want you to press your hands together as if in prayer," he instructed gently.

"Like this?" He inquired demonstrating.

Riku placed his hands on top of Sora's, "Perfect, now imagine your Chakra coming through the tips of your fingers."

Sora's chakra felt like a breath of fresh air. Riku wanted to rest his head and sleep in hazy pleasure. He opened his eyes and grabbed the flashlight turning it on. He held it directly over the former chibi's fingers and waited for something to happen.

He looked closely at Sora and realized that he had his eyes shut to tightly. _'Ah, so there's the problem!'_ Riku opened his mouth and Sora was immediately captivated by the tune meant only for his ears.

"I heard this before..." Sora was trying really hard to stay focused but all he truly wanted to do was fall back into Riku's arms and stay there.

His body eased into Riku's before the song stopped.

"What did you do...Riku?" A darkened blue lidded gaze was focusing on their pressed together hands.

"It a hymn to calm you down a little. This won't work if you aren't completely at ease."

"A song? You have a beautiful voice." Sora commented not really caring that Riku's _voice_ wasn't really a voice at all.

"Let's give this another shot shall we?"

He nodded and closed his eyes completely showing his response rather than verbalizing it. Riku watched as the light particles seeped into tan skin, so different from his own.

"You can open your hands now." Sora opened his hands and watched as the light formed into tiny spheres of light. They reminded him of fireflies as they flew about his palm in erratic patterns.

He broke out into an ear splitting grin as he turned to face Riku.

"Thank you!" Without thinking of the consequences he leaned forward and placed a quick but soft kiss on Riku's cheek. It was worth the embarrassment to see Riku's flushed face and childlike smile, Sora decided.

Ban sighed before getting up. Ginji peeked at him through an open eye, watching as he sat himself in back of him much like how Riku and Sasuke had.

"Open your eyes."

"W-what?" Ginji stuttered.

* * *

Ban smiled before repeating himself. "Open your eyes."

Ginji lowered the fluorescent tube bulb that was clasped between his two hands and complied with Ban's wishes. He turned his head slightly to ask Ban a question but realized a little too late that there was almost no room between their faces.

Ban gazed into his eyes and almost at once Ginji fell into a trance. His eyes were glowing again and the cat-slit pupils showed prominently against his enthralling electric blue orbs.

He shook his head in order to get rid of the drowsy-ness. Ban was looking at him expectantly.

"How do you do that? He questioned instead.

"Do what?"

"That thing with your eyes..."

"Hn I have no idea what you're talking about."

(Que music: Requiem for a dream – Enya)

Ginji pouted, Ban knew very well what he was talking about. He was just trying to avoid the question! The blonde looked at his hands and sighed. He felt a jolt of electricity run through his fingers and quickly dropped the bulb in his grasp.

"What was that?" He looked up expecting an answer but no one was there.

"Ban?" he looked around him but his surroundings didn't change. The only thing missing were the people. The lights in the gym were off as usual as the lightening cast eerie shadows across the expansive floor.

"Ban-chan, are you there?" Ginji tried to rise to his feet but found he couldn't move his lower extremities. He was paralyzed from the waist down.

"Is anybody there? Help please? There's something's wrong, I can't move!" His voice was growing desperate as his heart began to race.

'_Where did everybody go?'_

The silence was deafening as he shouted again. "Kakashi-san, Leon-san? N-NARUTO!" he felt the tears blur in his eyes but it went unnoticed as something moved across the room.

Instead of feeling relieved he felt his blood run cold. "W-who's there?"

No reply was heard but Ginji heard a dull thud and saw it splay itself across the floor. It was a person, or at least he thought it was one. A black shroud covered its main torso but left the disgustingly pale blue limbs riddled in veins in plain sight.

Slowly it put one flesh covered hand forward and dragged itself closer to Ginji. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He didn't bother trying to hold in his silent sobs. His eyes never left the figure. The closer it got the more Ginji could make out the trail of blood it was leaving behind.

He used his arms and tried to pull himself backwards. The thing was getting faster as it clawed its way across the ground. Ginji opened his mouth to scream again but silence ripped from his throat instead.

It was a mere ten feet in front of him now and Ginji could make out every detail on the corpse. Its veins were stark against the translucent skin and bloody bruises littered the female's body. Her limp, dirty, blonde hair had patches of blood caked in and in other spots it seemed as if the hair was ripped right out with the skin still attached to the roots. She picked her head up and Ginji felt physically ill. Her mouth and eyes were sewed shut with large black stitches, but the face itself rang a bell deep within his subconscious, he knew that face but had no name to place to it.

He tried to scream harder but it was like he was drowning in water and no one could hear him.

He turned his head in a desperate attempt to search for an escape but by the time he turned back she was gone. The trail of blood was the only proof she was there in the first place. Ginji hyperventilated as he slowly backed up.

His efforts came to a screeching halt as two bloody pale blue arms enveloped him from behind and the rancid smell of putrid rotting flesh attacked his nose as a head tucked itself into the crook of his neck. His heart stopped for a second before an excruciating thump resounded in his chest.

Lightening surged forward and obliterated everything in its path.

(Que: end Music)

* * *

When the light bulb shattered in Ginji's hand Ban knew something was wrong. Brown spectacle covered eyes came into focus and the tears were instantaneous. He didn't say a word but he sat there shaking like a leaf. Ban hadn't seen such absolute and sheer... _terror_... in a long while.

He gathered Ginji into his arms and lap and held him in a fierce slightly painful embrace to keep him grounded.

"B-Ban- c-chan!" The cry was horse and unstable as he flung himself around into the embrace.

"Shh, it's alright, I'm right here. It was just a dream."

Ginji's glasses dug painfully into his neck but he ignored it as he petted the boy's hair softly. It didn't take long for them to capture everyone's attention.

"What went wrong?"

Leon wasted no time in kneeling next to the clearly distressed boy.

Ban shook his head indicating that he didn't know.

They were surrounded by worried faces in less than a heartbeat.

"Leave him alone, I've got this under control."

Everyone but Naruto, Sora, Kazuki, Sasuke, Riku and Shido backed off, but they didn't go very far as they watched the frightened boy with anxious eyes.

"Aniki, Daijoubu?" Naruto placed his hand on Ginji's long locks and smoothed them out.

A wordless sob answered him.

"What did you show him?" Sasuke was furious. He knew that his brother had been planning this since day one but to actually go through with it after everything they'd been through? Even Ban wasn't that heartless.

Sasuke looked Ginji over and felt that weird protective surge go through him again. He reminded him so much of Naruto...

"I asked, _what did you show him_?"

He raised his voice in agitation and that drew the attention of everyone surrounding them yet again... Sasuke practically never yelled.

"What?" Kazuki breathed out harshly.

Sasuke ignored the accusing stares in favor of getting an answer from his brother.

"I didn't show him a nightmare Sasuke, I showed him a dream."

"Some fucking dream that must've been!"

Ban didn't know how to answer that. He was only trying to relax the boy not scare him.

The youngest Uchiha's eyes bled crimson as the tomes began spinning dangerously about. Blue eye's locked directly onto red and allowed them access to his memories.

Carefully, Sasuke carded through the contents of the dream Ginji should have seen. And in his defense his brother had been telling the truth.

Ginji's dream should have been one him of him perfectly controlling his abilities in order for him to know what it felt like. This confused the raven greatly. There was nothing in there that warranted fear of any degree.

Thinking quickly Sasuke turned to the nerve wracked boy and placed his hand on his shoulder to draw his attention.

"Ginji I need you to look at me."

The distraught boy went rigid. He heard those same words before and this time around he wasn't going to trust them!

He shook his head furiously from side to side and buried his head further into Ban's neck.

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "We can't help him if we don't know what's wrong."

Naruto bit his lip while clutching at Ginji's hand. "What exactly is it that you're going to do?"

"I'm going to go into his memory and see what the problem is." He answered calmly.

Naruto didn't want a stranger running around in his brother's head but Sasuke's point was more than valid. For the first time, he willingly wanted to trust the man who'd been the cause of his misery until recently. He nodded once before carding his fingers through Ginji's overgrown hair.

"Aniki, please we want to help." He whispered quietly.

Ginji locked eyes with Naruto and Naruto felt the world stop for a moment. He knew that look, but more importantly he knew that feeling. Just what had his big brother seen?

"_Onegai_..." he whispered more desperately.

Ginji nodded and turned his head to reluctantly face Sasuke. Sasuke removed his glasses and brushed some of the hair out of his eyes. The caring gesture calmed Ginji down some as he watched the ruby gems implore him.

"Don't worry, we're here to help."

His tomes now spun lazily about, his first task was to calm him down before he started to hyperventilate. When he was satisfied with the results he accessed his memory and closed his eyes. A long term connection worked differently than a quick scan. It required you to inhabit that person's body as if you were there. Sasuke would experience everything that Ginji had firsthand.

* * *

Everyone watched with baited breath as Sasuke's lids fluttered open.

His skin was paler than ash and he was unresponsive.

"What did you see Sasuke?" Once again Leon was the first one to react.

Sasuke just stared ahead, his mouth refused to work. He didn't scream, he didn't cry, he didn't even give into the urge to empty his stomachs content then and there.

He _couldn't, _it was as simple as couldn't get his mouth to move or his hands to signal his wasn't his fear, he knew that but Ginji's overwhelming emotions possessed him. He just sat there. And then he started ever so slightly shaking. It was barely noticeable at all but to those who knew him it held a tremendous effect.

Leon and the others watched with rapt horror stricken fascination as Sasuke literally broke down in front of them. Whatever it was that Ginji saw... was enough to shake up even Sasuke. They could only _dream_ of what went on in there.

Naruto didn't know how to react. How could he? He didn't even know what was going on! All he knew was that ever since they got here, things haven't been following their natural order. It was almost like their past was coming to haunt them. Only now they didn't know how to explain their misfortune. Before it seemed as if they were always getting into strange accidents, and everything that went wrong only happened around them. It was the strangest case of the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time ever noted in history. It came to the point where all of the boys dropped their social lives, and locked themselves away in their apartment. But even there they weren't safe.

When Ginji had received an invitation to attend the school for the four of them, they were skeptical about it. Kazuki and Sora paid it no mind altogether. Going to an exclusive school with all expenses paid was a dream too good to be true. But they took the offer and ran with it. Now he was starting to wonder, not for the first time, if they'd made the biggest mistakes of their lives by coming here.

"Sasuke-teme what did you see?" He placed a hand on the boys faintly quivering shoulder and forced him to look at him.

"Give me a minute will you?" Sasuke brought his hands up to his eyes and squeezed them shut finally being able to respond.

It wasn't that it was the worst thing he'd ever seen… The grips of strong emotions that were completely foreign to him finally deserted him. He hadn't experienced fear like that himself for many _many_ years, it was more than a shock to his system.

His head snapped up as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He almost let his energy go flying but he realized that those arms were not the same ones from the nightmare. They were warm and comforting.

He rested his head on the shoulder offered to him and inhaled deeply letting his arms fall limply to his sides as he was held in Naruto's firm embrace.

"That was some fucked up dream." He whispered not really paying attention to anything.

"Why?"

"You don't want to know." His grave tone broke no room for argument.

"Somebody screwed with the _Jagan_." Sasuke said not really meaning for the others to hear him

Ban looked at him with dubious narrowed eyes. "Show me."

"Iie" Sasuke refused without any thought on the matter.

"It wasn't a request Sasuke. There is no such thing as manipulating the Jagan. I need to know what it is we're dealing with here."

"Later, okay?...just later." Ban nodded and moved to stand with Ginji.

"What's the _Jagan_?" Sora asked never hearing the word before. He felt helpless as he watched unable to do anything.

"The evil-eye, it has the capability of showing you your worst nightmare or wildest fantasy. But it has its drawbacks. The illusion despite how much time passes within it, can only last one minute in reality. It can only be used three times in a day and a person can only be affected by it once in a twenty-four hour time period." Sakura explained as she walked up to the group of boys.

She stopped in front of Ginji and slowly reached out her hand as if to touch him. She hesitated for only a moment before gently petting his head.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly, as if she was afraid that a loud noise would break the poor boy apart.

Ginji nodded and attempted a smile to reassure her.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Ban teased in order to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"What can I say? I'm a girl, we're suckers for tears." Sakura couldn't honestly say when but she started to worry about those boys. It's the reason why she and Ino had gone to check up on them. Regardless of what she said, Sakura really didn't hate anyone. Neither could Ino for that matter, but she sure as hell could hold a grudge.

Sakura smiled and pulled the taller teen into a warm hug. Ginji relaxed almost immediately into the embrace, it was so inviting. Sakura used her chakra to sooth his shaking body, it worked like a charm as Ginji's form stilled. When she released him, he gave her a distorted version of his hundred-watt smile and turned to Ban.

Ginji looked at him and he was a total mess. The rest of them had yet to say anything.

"You guys are to keep him occupied at all times. It's dangerous to leave him by himself, don't let him out of your sights, understand?" The nonsense tone in Ban's voice was firm.

They all nodded without hesitation, and that meant _all _of them present and accounted for.

"You really don't need to worry about me. I'll be alright" Ginji spoke for the first time.

He turned to the blonde and tilted his head upwards with graceful thin long fingers. "Let's go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up." Ban completely disregarded his previous statement.

"Ban-chan?"

"Hhm?"

"Arigatou"

"Shinpai suru na (1)"

"Hai" Ginji clasped the thin fingers in his own as the taller brunette led him out of the gym."

"Wait for me I wanna come too!" Sora yelled running up to them. Ban paused at the door and waited for the younger boy to catch up. Sora nearly collided into Ginji as he wrapped his slender arms around his waist. It was his way of saying, _'It's okay now, I'm right by your side.'_

Naruto rubbed his head in frustration while keeping his arms securely around Sasuke. "Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

He received no answer.

* * *

Naruto was safely tucked away in his bed when he was interrupted by a soft knock on his door.

A tuff of blonde poked its way into the room. "Naru-chan is it alright if I..."

Naruto smiled and scooted over in his bed to make room for his big brother. He pulled the sheets back and patted the spot next to him. Naruto was secretly glad for his company. Even though he had nightmares of his own to deal with, he was too afraid to tell anybody about them. Sure he told his brothers about his horrifying escapade in the hall, but that didn't mean that they believed him, or understood it. Besides he needed a reason to watch over his precious Aniki. He scared him so bad earlier, but he knew that, like him, Ginji would take a while to truly get over his fears.

Ginji stood in the doorway clutching his pillow to his chest. He didn't want to trouble his little brother but memories of that woman kept him from shutting his eyes. He watched as Naruto made room for him and wasted no time in crawling into bed.

When he was comfortably settled in, he felt Naruto snuggle up under his chin while wrapping his arms around him to sleep... just like he always had. His hand wrapped around Naruto's braid out of sheer habit of comfort than anything else.

"I love you Aniki."

Ginji hugged him back smiling gently as he kissed his forehead. "Love you to otouto." He didn't really have problems falling asleep after that. After all, he needed to be strong enough for his little brothers.

* * *

"Sasuke, you can't put this off any longer, you need to show me his dream." Ban was already comfortably in his pj's resting on his bed. Sasuke was also dressed for the night as he lay next to his brother.

He sighed before turning to him. "Hn, you're not going to like this."

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and took Ban into his thoughts. When it was over Ban just lay there for a moment. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and sat up. "Fuck I need a smoke."

He walked over to the balcony and threw the French-doors open. Ignoring the thunder storm that was still raging outside, he lit his cancer stick and took a deep drag.

"Sasuke something's wrong with these guys. And I'm not sure that their powers are the only thing that their hiding. Haven't you noticed? This storm hasn't stopped since they've arrived. And if something is strong enough to intercept and manipulate the Jagan than we're in deep shit. It's a bad omen Sasuke." Ban took another pull from his cigarette.

"First Naruto, now Ginji. Did you notice the weird pattern taking place? They, it, whatever, is toying with them."

Ban flicked the cigarette butt over the balcony thinking over Sasuke's words. He shut the door and turned the lights off. "Their _senses..._" His eyes widened for a fraction of a second as realization dawned on him and he finally understood now what Sasuke meant.

"Exactly, their senses, Naruto couldn't _hear_ anything, and Ginji couldn't _say_ anything." Sasuke thought hard over what the connection could possibly be.

"Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru..." Ban's head shot up, his eyes narrowing, as he spoke rapidly piecing it together.

"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, the wise monkeys of course!" Sasuke was quick to translate the old curse.

"But wait..." Sasuke stopped as something dawned on him.

"That leaves one left."

"Yeah and I have a pretty good feeling on who we have to keep an eye out for." Sasuke slid under the covers, and turned to face his brother. It would take too much effort on his part to go to his own room anyway.

"Do you think we should warn them?"

"No, we don't want them to panic. Tomorrow we'll relay everything to Riku and Shido. We all have classes with them. If each of us keep an eye out then I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out." Ban chewed his words carefully before saying them.

"So I guess we aren't trying to chase them away anymore." Sasuke really shouldn't have found anything amusing at the moment but he couldn't help it.

"Tch, like hell we are. You're as interested in them as I am. And don't try to deny that Naruto hasn't caught your _special interest._" Ban wasn't asking him, he was telling him.

"Go to sleep already." It wasn't a denial but it wasn't admittance either.

* * *

Sora rolled around his bed fitfully. He just couldn't seem to sleep in his new bed. He grabbed his favorite pillow and made his way quickly to Kazuki's room. He'd feel safer in there anyway.

Too bad he didn't notice that the reflection in the mirror wasn't one of his retreating back. Bank soulless eyes trailed after him.

TBC...

* * *

Side Notes

Shinpai suru na - Don't worry

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	8. It's always the same

_**Author's Note**_: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.

_**Cue Music:**_ (1) Creepy music box (best version from user: Narsous) (2) When Darkness Falls - Nox Arcana

* * *

Sasuke walked silently though the halls to his first class as he stared unblinkingly in front of him. Friday couldn't come any quicker even if they wanted it to. All of Hebi was on their toes. They never left Sora or Kazuki alone, and since Ginji and Naruto were always with them it made it easier for them to keep tabs. Nothing strange or unusual had taken place...well unless you counted that strange occurrence during practice…

It shouldn't have been possible after all it was way too soon, but the boys managed to call upon their element without the use of an outside source. It was practically unheard of for control to be established so quickly but it had happened regardless of who wanted to believe it. Kakashi and Leon were most impressed. And though Sasuke loathed to admit it, so were the Hebi members.

Since today was Friday, it was their day to move the girls on campus. Sasuke wasn't too sure but he thought that something of importance might also occur as well.

"How's our plans look for today?" Riku was as stealthy as ever, but as usual he couldn't get the jump on Sasuke.

"Pretty full, the girls haven't really done much packing after all." Riku let out a defeated sigh. He wouldn't be caught dead acting in such a lax manner in public but as they were alone it was fine.

"Does that mean that we're going to have to do more than necessary?" Honestly he'd rather spend his time with Naruto and his brothers. They were an interesting bunch and as of yesterday he was grudgingly admitted into their circle. Kazuki still looked wary; in fact there was still tension between them all. But all in all they seemed to be getting along quite well for someone Naruto not to long ago told off.

"I guess so." The conversation ended when they were joined by Gaara and Neji and soon after Roxas and Axle's little fraction.

Sasuke took a good look around him and toyed with the idea of asking the rest of his family for some help. Roxas and Axel would be of great help. Hell even Kiba, Gaara, and Neji would be of use. Maybe even...

* * *

"Aaacchhoo"

"Bless you Naru- niichan."

"Thanks So-chan" Naruto swiped at his nose wondering if this was the beginning of a god-awful cold. _'Well time to head to class. Now to grab breakfast...' _Naruto made a swipe at the plate on his kitchen counter only to discover his toast missing. It took a few seconds for him to realize his hand came back empty.

"Nani?" his loud exclamation next could be heard practically through out the wing.

"WHERE"S MY TOAST?"

"Oh sorry were you going to eat that?" Naruto peered around the corner of his kitchen to realize that the culprit was standing in the doorway with '_his'_ toast in his mouth.

Ginji grinned wickedly before speeding out the door beginning his countdown _'5...4...3...2...1'_

"**ANIKI!"**

Naruto took off like a jet rocket leaving Sora behind in his room to lock up. He was barely able to slip on his shoes and grab his bag before the wild chase started.

There was one terrible thing Ginji miscalculated, Naruto's legs were longer. He was catching up and fast. Ginji would be caught if he didn't think of something quick.

"Damnit stop running so I can catch you already!" Naruto screamed.

Ginji hooked a sharp left before replying, "Zettai _iya da,(1)_ if I stop running then you'll catch me!"

"That would be the point you thief!" Naruto huffed out in annoyance. It was too bad, Naruto had a feeling that he was forgetting something very _very_ important...

* * *

**(Half an hour later)**

(Que music – Creepy Music Box)

"Chikushou, I'm lost! That idiot got me freaking lost!" Naruto fumed. He only took consolation in the fact that his Aniki was ten times more lost than he was. He knew he shouldn't have followed him.

The blonde wandered around till he found a door that led to an old passageway in the court yard. He had never been there before but he figured that it was better than meandering about alone inside.

The cobblestone path extended from the house and was lined with pillars and an archway roof. This part of the house had an eerie feel to it. Unlike the rest of the well kept manor, this particular court yard felt abandoned...Almost as if time and age had taken its toll.

Naruto was tempted to take his chances inside but never ending hallways made him change his mind. He strained his ears to hear anything over the howling wind and the pouring rain but to no avail.

The sky was darker than normal and the rain came down in sheets. He didn't much care for this country that they moved to. There was _one_ day he could remember actually seeing the sky but that didn't last very long. And the rain clouds only let up for a few hours a day. It was dreary to be down right honest. He had heard from the other residents that this weather was highly unusual for them as well. _'I wonder if this has anything to do with us... I mean with all the other weird crap taking place that idea wouldn't be to unbelievable.'_

Naruto's thought process was abruptly halted, the long blonde braid that he so adored snagged on something. He turned around to free it but to no avail. Whatever the hell it was had him almost by the roots of his hair. He tried to yank it free but that only resulted in a pounding headache. It was then he heard that particular sound that was beginning to sound more and more like the toll to hell's hour. But it still made his heart jump painfully in his chest regardless...

...the gentle pitter patter of a child's running footfall accompanied by a giggle that would haunt him for years to come.

'_No way in hell!'_

_(End Que Music)_

* * *

Chibi Ginji stared at a dead end wall for the better part of five minutes before he confirmed that it wasn't going to move for him. He put his chubby hand under his chin and plopped his bottom on the floor. He was almost positive that this was the way he came from. He was bad at directions yes but he wasn't down right stupid. This bloody statue wasn't here before... _'I could swear on it...I could swear... where the heck is my otouto! I need him here; I need to know he's safe. This feeling... this is bad.'_

"Are you lost again?" A truly amused voice broke off the ill-omened atmosphere. Chibi Ginji looked up and almost jumped for joy. It was his saviors!

Gaara stood there with a rare smirk that outsiders hardly ever, if at all, saw. And Neji was attached to his arm as always smiling in an equally amused fashion.

"Do you need help getting to class?" Neji asked softly.

"Hai!" Without warning Chibi Ginji attached himself to Gaara's leg and inched his way up as if he were a tapeworm climbing a tree. Gaara for the first time in years was too surprised to do much else but stare in shock. Was this child that daft that he would ignore all the warning signs and do what others would never dare to attempt? When Ginji was comfortably situated on his back, Gaara could only chuckle and Neji's laughter filled the hallways with its pleasant sound.

"You're either really brave or very foolish." Gaara observed but did nothing to remove him. Instead he placed his unoccupied arm under Ginji to support him and continued to walk. Ginji for the life of him couldn't remember what he was forgetting...

* * *

(Que Music When Darkness Falls - Nox Arcana)

Naruto wasn't about to stick around for the sick horror fest to commence. When his hair still wouldn't give way he made the rash decision that he would surely cry over later. He summoned a small amount of flame to the tips of his fingers and sliced through his hair. He felt the strands flutter to his shoulder and took that as his cue to run. He kept going until he was sure that there was plenty of distance between him and the...and the..._ 'I really need to give that thing a name.' _He thought humorlessly trying to pull himself together. When Naruto finally slowed down he realized that he still wasn't in an area he recognized.

A small silhouette caught the corner of his eye and he stopped for a moment to examine it. You could only imagine his surprise when he saw a child no older than seven or eight sitting on the ledge getting soaked by the rain.

"Hey you'll get sick if you stay there." Naruto made his way slowly to the child. _'I never knew that we had kids around here. I wonder who he belongs to?'_

The child was startled out of his reverie and turned his huge doe eyes towards Naruto. They took their time in studying each other before anything more was said. The little boy had long blonde spiky hair that look as if it hadn't been combed in weeks. His eyes were a dark shade of blue and his pupils were so small they were hardly visible. His pale skin only added to his sickly demeanor. Despite his appearance, the child was really something to look at, he was angelic looking.

When they locked gazes again Naruto couldn't help but feel as if though something was a bit off with him.

'_Yeah like being alone in the middle of nowhere isn't enough.'_ He scoffed to himself.

"Who are you mister?" He tilted his head to the side as if getting a better perspective would help him remember the foreign face.

"My name's Naruto, What's yours little guy?" Naruto crouched down slowly to avoid scaring the child.

When he got no response he decided to try again. "Are you lost?"

That one got him a response. The little boy shook his head no. After another moment of silence the doe eyed child spoke in his timid voice. "Kaijin..."

"What was that?" Naruto couldn't quite catch that since it was spoken in such a small voice.

"My name is Kaijin. Are you lost Naruto-niichan?"

"Hehe I guess you could say that. I was chasing my baka Aniki when I sort of lost my way..." Naruto scratched at his head bashfully.

"Aniki?" Kaijin questioned curiously while reaching to take Naruto's now out stretched hand.

"Hai, I have four brothers, my Aniki Ginji, and my otouto's Kazuki and Sora." He grabbed the child's hand in order to bring him to his feet, but the moment he took hold of the hand an ice cold feeling of discomfort passed through him.

"Bbrr your hands are freezing how long have you been out here?"

Kaijin merely shrugged indicating his lack of an answer. "Come on lets get you inside so we can find your parents."

When Naruto tried to take him back the way he came Kaijin shook his head furiously and pulled him in the opposite direction; making the elder of the two wonder if he knew what was back there.

After a few uncomfortable minutes of silence the hyperactive blonde could hardly stand it. "So who are your parents?"

A shrug was his response.

"Huh? So who are you staying here with?"

"We're here," Kaijin interrupted, once again avoiding the answer.

Naruto noticed that the path opened in a corner of the field where he could see the dome shaped gym. He let go of the child's hand to take a few steps out into the rain. That giggle sounded once more before Naruto had a chance to turn around. He put two and two together and the pieces fit perfectly. The footsteps and the laughter were all Kaijin's doing.

"Ano sa..." Naruto turned around and was met with a brick wall instead of a pathway. He called for Kaijin and after no response he tried pushing on the wall. It wouldn't budge. He took off as fast as he could, hell bent on forgetting everything that just happened.

'_This fucking place is evil!' _

(End Que Music)

* * *

Cloud sat in the secret room in which Leon had ensured was one-hundred percent safe. He was sipping on his French vanilla coffee when his eyes focused on a small white and blue blur running across the field. The blur had a mop of blonde on its head. Despite the heavy down pour Cloud was willing to bet that that figure was indeed male and one of his sons to boot. He quickly set his cup aside on the glass coffee- table and slipped on his boots. Making sure he had a few towels secured in his arms Cloud rushed for the door only to bump into Leon.

"Leon what are you doing here?" Cloud questioned in surprise momentarily forgetting his purpose for rushing in the first place.

"Well good morning to you to." Leon smiled gently.

"We're in a bit of a rush aren't we?" He teased gently humor dancing in his eyes.

Cloud felt the dust of pink that covered the bridge of his nose, "Wha-What?"

'_Rush? What is he...Oh geez I almost forgot!'_

"I'm sorry Leon but one of the boys is completely drenched, he was running across the field just now."

Leon's face took on a serious expression in record time . It would have been comical if the situation didn't cause both of them to worry.

He quickly grabbed a hold of Cloud's hand and pulled him out of the room to lead him to a set of back stairs that would have been hard to find otherwise.

When they reached the front stairs they nearly collided with a dripping wet Naruto who was bent over and sucking in air as if his life depended on it.

* * *

Naruto didn't even notice when the towel was placed on his head, but he did notice when gentle hands started drying his dramatically shortened hair.

He felt the warm towel smooth over his cheeks, riding them of the beaded droplets that had collected there as another hand removed his glasses. As Naruto opened his eyes he was greeted by a more than welcomed sight.

"Cloud-otousan, Leon..." The loud blonde choked on his words, he was just so damn happy that he could finally relax. He was getting really sick of this place; Naruto really wanted a change of pace. This stupid manor was starting to get to him.

"How 'bout we get you showered and changed first?" Cloud steered him in the direction of his room so he could do just as he said.

* * *

The walk back was a silent one but they did happen to run into Gaara, Kiba, Roxas, and Kakashi. The later of the four joined them under the pretenses of lecturing Naruto about skipping class when in reality he was just as worried as the rest of them and just a tiny bit curious.

Gaara assured Naruto that Ginji had safely reached his class and Kiba asked him several times if he was feeling well. After their short exchange the boys headed off to class and Naruto was able to shower peacefully knowing that he wasn't alone.

When he emerged from the bathroom he was greeted by the sight of the three males comfortably seated on his bed. Cloud was bracing against the head board while the other two situated themselves along the edges.

"Now then do you want to tell us what you were doing running in the rain?"

It was then that Naruto noticed Iruka quietly sitting on his desk chair. _'When did he get here?'_ was the un-asked question.

"Umm I got lost?"

"Wrong answer chibi try again." Kakashi answered in his false cheery voice.

Naruto sighed as he situated himself directly aligned with Cloud on the bed allowing him to dry his hair in a comforting way only a father could. His head dropped forward immediately and the tension flowed from his body. It took him a few moments but he decided to tell the adults what was going on too. Even if Kakashi and Leon didn't believe him, Cloud and Iruka wouldn't judge him.

He told his story as best as he could, minus the child. Both encounters were too close to discount and he surmised that Kaijin had been a figure of his imagination. But no matter how much he wanted to he couldn't really disregard the idea of the child completely.

After his long winded story silence enveloped the room, yet it wasn't uncomfortable, it was contemplative.

"It's alright if you don't believe me. Hell even I don't want to believe me..."

Clouds arms wrapped around him from the back and pulled him into a loving embrace that one would use to sooth a disgruntled child.

"Don't be stupid Naruto of course we believe you." He chided.

"Naruto you're speaking to people who come from near, if not demonic backgrounds, what makes you think that we won't believe you?" Leon assured.

Cloud and Iruka exchanged quick sharp glances before forcing themselves to relax. It wouldn't do to give themselves up just yet.

"Arigatou mina," Naruto beamed at them giving them the infamous Uzumaki hundred-watt smile.

"Ano, I have a question that may seem a little out of the blue but, has anyone here ever heard of the name Kaijin?"

Cloud shifted himself more comfortably against the headboard adjusting Naruto in his arms. Iruka got up and situated himself on the bed, while this time the other two exchanged glances.

"That's an interesting question with an interesting answer, Sak..." He was cut off with a hard wallop to the head.

Leon felt the vein in his forehead throb before attempting to calm himself. "Aho (2), She isn't even hear you lazy ass."

"Wari wari (3) bad habbit, I just love picking on that girl," Kakashi chuckled nervously.

"Anyway, it's interesting you should ask that because that name is directly tied into the houses history. Kaijin is one of the three prophetic children that this manor was created to house and raise. He disappeared almost 1,300 years ago during the revolution along with his brother and their care takers. How did you hear about that name? Did one of the boys tell you about it?"

Leon was more than a little curious, he was bordering suspicion. That name wasn't part of casual conversation, unless Naruto was directly enquiring about the manor.

Naruto for the second time that day was at a lost for words. After all how the hell do you say _'Well I'm sorry to tell you this but the boy isn't missing just dead. And he was nice enough to lead me back home when I was lost.' _

Yeah...no way in hell.

"Um I saw it in this picture in that abandoned court yard I was telling you about. Well now that my curiosity has been satisfied how about I get to class. By the way, Leon and Iruka don't you guys have classes right now?"

"Nope somebody broke the main water pipe in the boy's room on our floor, so all classes on that floor were cancelled." Iruka spoke up from his bout of silence. He was still trying to take in all that he had been told and make sense of it.

* * *

Ban, Ginji, Kazuki, and Riku were all bored out of their minds. Ginji had been late to class only to find out that there was no class. They had all migrated to the library since it was the least used room and the most relaxing.

Ginji watched as the hands on the grandfather clock ticked along with its rhythmic sound. He had already discovered an extensive mystery collection and had read nearly a third of his current book 'Mind reader'. He was tired of reading so he just lay curled up in fetal position on the couch. Not that he was uncomfortable by any means. How could he be? His head somehow found its way into Ban's lap some time ago. Nobody remembered how the hell it got there in the first place, but it was comfortable all the same. Ban was slowly lulling him to sleep with the absentminded strokes of his hair.

Riku looked up from his spot on the plush carpeted ground, he liked sitting on the floor rather than the chairs sometimes. It was, in his opinion, all the same.

"We have a pretty busy schedule today, so how about just sleeping over at the girls tonight instead of coming all the way back here?" The silveret asked quietly so as not to disturb the relaxed atmosphere.

"That sounds perfectly fine to me. In fact..." Ban paused in his speech and smiled at Kazuki and Ginji.

"Would you guys like to get out of this place for a while? A bunch of us were going to move Sakura and Ino in this weekend. You're more than welcomed to come along if you'd like.

Kazuki brought his index finger to his lip and tapped it twice as if in thought before voicing a question of his own. "Who will be there?"

"Hhmm, well Ban, Sasuke, Shido, Leon, Kakashi, the girls obviously, myself and if anyone else wants to tag along."

"Are we all going to fit in just their two apartments?" Ginji bit his bottom lip in anticipation as he stared at the brunet god like figure hovering above him.

Ban pushed some of the mop like hair out of the blonde's eye and pushed his glasses down to the tip of his nose to stare into those big chocolate colored eyes. "Don't worry about it we own a penthouse not to far away from them. Besides you guys don't really have to do anything, we'll take you out for a night on the town. How's that sound?"

Chibi Ginji promptly glomped the unsuspecting genius, "Ban-chan ichiban!(4)"

"Not so fast there Gin- niichan, won't the others mind if you invite us with out discussing it with them first? Especially Sasuke- kun, he's not the friendliest person in the world." Kazuki looked skeptical at best.

"Nope, once two out of the four decide on something then that's that. And don't worry about Sasuke, he's socially retarded." Riku assured before muttering, "I don't think all the time in the world can change that."

"Huh?" If it were possible chibi Ginji would've had huge question marks for eyes at that given moment.

"Ah don't worry about it, he may act as if he still doesn't accept you but I guarantee you that you're all growing on him. Give him a little bit more time to adjust. He's a hard one to warm up to but once you do I assure you you'll have a life long friend... or brother-in-law." Ban added wickedly grinning to Riku and receiving one in return.

Kazuki gave them the first genuinely relaxed and happy grin. Once you got to know them they weren't all that bad. "That sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

Sora and Shido would like to confirm the theory that, yes time does actually go slower when you look at a clock. It was only morning but already they couldn't wait for the day to be out.

Shido was just bored having to relearn the same nonsense over and over again...Things that no matter how long you live you never use. But Sora on the other hand looked too tired for words.

"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep?" Shido stopped counting the yawns after the twenty-seventh one.

"Nuh-uh, not really I was really uncomfortable last night. The bed felt like a pile of ...yawn...rocks."

"That makes no sense what so ever. This place has the most comfortable beds I've felt in centuries."

"I know it's just that... well...I don't really know. I've been feeling tired lately. No matter how much sleep I try to get it just doesn't come to me."

"I'm sure you just need a proper night's sleep. Riku can help you with that, you know."

"How?"

"It's his ability."

"His wha..."

"...Are you two quite finished yet? I know history isn't the most interesting topic but cut me some slack will you?" One very agitated Kurenai- sensei stood tapping her foot in front of them.

Chibi Sora was about ready to run for his life, _'Shimatta!'_

* * *

Naruto's morning was fairly uneventful. He went to all classes as usual and nothing else happened. By the time lunch hit and the whole gang got together, the morning's events had more or less blown over.

He was so busy staring off into space that he almost missed the plate of fried rice and bake chicken that was shoved in his face. He looked past the plate and was shocked in the most pleasant of ways.

Sakura held out the plate of food but had her head turned away hiding her not so subtle blush and disgruntled face.

"Sa-Sakura- chan?" He was surprised yes but that didn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. She was just so cute! He wondered if he had a sister, would she have been more like Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Kairi, or Naminé? The five were so different but all appreciated in their own way.

"Don't think too much on it. You missed class this morning and none of you brought your bento. I can't watch people starve so I whipped up something after class to share with the whole group. You better not waist any I-"

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto gently grabbed her hand to stop her rambling and was surprised when his hand wasn't slapped away. And she didn't yell at him!

"Arigatou, you're the best!" She turned to walk back to her seat, pausing only to give him a smirk and a quick wink. "Of course I am. Sasuke- kun can't be number one at everything."

The entire Hebi gang paused out of shock. Never in their life had they ever heard of Sakura putting her precious Sasuke below anyone, especially herself. Sasuke made eye contact with her and gave her one of his small smiles. But instead of the expected squeal they only saw a cocky grin shot his way.

What in the seven hells was going on? It was like they walked into the twilight zone or something.

"Sakura are you feeling okay?" Ino ventured cautiously.

"Perfectly fine Ino-pig, now eat your food I worked damn hard on it!"

Ino felt the vein in her forehead pulsate, _'Yup she's just peachy!' _

Shikamaru looked at them before sighing. He already knew what was to come.

* * *

"Hey guys guess what! We were invited to go help the girls move this weekend! And we get to sleep over to!" Ginji spoke excitedly.

Naruto, Sora, Shido, and Sasuke looked up in surprise from there meals.

"When was this decided?" Sasuke glared at the culprits suspecting them before even being told anything.

"This morning, and don't looked so pissed off it was_ your_ idea after all." Ban chided while puffing away at the cigarette.

"When in hells name did I ever say, _'Let's invite the newbies!'?_" he hissed in retaliation.

"Ah, you didn't." Riku chimed in knowingly.

"Then what..."

"You were thinking it, duh."

"You sonuvabitch, you read my mind?"

"Say's you. You were just thinking so freaking loud that I couldn't hear myself think."

It was almost invisible but the faint pink on Sasuke's cheek was glaringly obvious to those around him.

"Gomen."

Sasuke received a light punch on the top of his head and looked up in surprise.

"Che, you act as if you don't interrupt my thoughts every hour of the day." ..._You're forgiven._

"So what time are we leaving..." Sora started,

"...and how are we going to get there?" Naruto finished.

"How 'bout we leave a little after the afterschool training?" Shido suggested a little unsettled.

He didn't hate them anymore but he was still wary of all the misfortune that seemed to trail them. Inviting them home was a little too personal for him. He'd always been a lone wolf and when he joined his 'pack' or family he vowed to protect them. He didn't trust the boys enough to bring them to the only place he truly felt secure. There were two very good reasons why he didn't voice out his objection.

Reason number one was that he was out numbered three to one on this decision. Even if Sakura and Ino protested with him it was obvious whose decision held more weight.

Reason number two was that despite his discomfort with the idea he was looking foreword to spending time with his recent attraction, Kazuki. That boy was an enigma he was determined to figure no matter how many lifetimes it took. And he meant that in the most literal of ways.

"Agreed?" Ban asked and received nine nods in response. Sakura and Ino were intrigued by the idea as well even though they hid it pretty well.

Naruto had a strange feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He realized that it was honest to goodness happiness, mixed with content. Just under a week ago they were practically at each others throats. And with the exceptions of Sasuke and Shido, they seemed to be getting along quite well.

Besides that, he knew why Ginji was so happy. Sora and Kazuki were invited to several parties, sleepovers, and casual hangouts. All of which they declined due to the older brothers not being welcomed. They would only get invites if the host desperately wanted the younger boys to attend. However Ginji and Naruto had never been honestly invited anywhere. This was huge for them, it meant a lot.

"If that's the case then we should all head back to our rooms and pack so we don't waste time afterward." He adjusted his glasses and toyed with his ridiculously long bangs.

Ginji gasped after noticing for the first time Naruto's shortened braid which fell a little below his neck.

"Otouto what happened to your hair!" Ginji grabbed it and studied it as if it would speak and tell him the answers he so desperately wished to hear.

Naruto froze and the happiness dissipated as quickly as it had formed. Everyone around him seemed to sense his one-eighty mood swing.

Axel looked at him closely, gauging his reaction. You couldn't tell from the way he acted but Axel was better than a lie detector test. He could hear the rapid pulsing of Naruto's heart and saw the imperceptible beads of sweat that started to appear along his forehead. Axel's pupils dilated into slits and the green surrounding it turned yellow. They were the eyes of someone who could truly strike fear into a person's heart. They were the eyes of a monstrous beast.

"I'd warn you to answer carefully but I'm sure you already know that, ne Naruto?" The smile on his face said it should have been a joke but the look in those eyes screamed volumes about the true intent behind his words.

Roxas looked at Axel anxiously and squeezed his hand for reassurance. Axel was hardly _ever_ if at all serious. Something was up. The fiery redhead pulled the slender blonde into his lap only to wrap his long arms around him.

"H-hai." Naruto stuttered unsure of the story he'd come up with now.

Shit if he lied, Axel wouldn't be the only one to know. Kiba could smell fear for miles around him; Shikamaru could literally read body language as if it were an open text. Shido could hear the blood run through his veins. Sasuke and Ban could make him confess on the spot. And he didn't even wanna think about his brothers. He was surrounded by the worst people possible to try and keep a secret from.

"I um...I have no idea how to explain what happened." He looked back and forth between Ginji and Sasuke nervously.

Ginji's eyes widened a fraction as he read the signals for what they were. "This morning, it happened this morning after you were with me didn't it?"

"Hai."

Ban wasted no time in outing his cigarette, stalking over to Naruto, and ordering him to stay still.

"I'm not a dog you know!" The look he gave was a cross between a pout and a glare. The results made him look as if he were sulking.

"What if I don't want you messing around in my head?"

"You trust us in your brother's but not your own?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in response.

That shut him up faster then he would have liked. What could he have possibly said to counter that?

"It's not all that important anyway." He grumbled turning his head away. Sasuke could be such a bastard. He was met with several disbelieving snorts in the process.

"Naruto stop avoiding it and let me see." Ban was almost as scary as Cloud or Iruka when he was being tested.

"Look it's either me or Sasuke, take your pick." Naruto took one look at Sasuke's smirking face and stuck his tongue out at him. _'No way, if I let him do it I'll never hear the end of it.'_

"Fine, it won't be pretty any way."

When Ban was finished with him he looked away and rubbed at his face tiredly. "It could have been a practical joke played by one of the other gangs. You're not the most popular group out there. Besides not all _special children_ belong to hebi, just the ones you see here now. There are roughly 30 that belong to our group out of almost 200 students."

Naruto sighed in relief. The joke itself wasn't funny but he found how skittish and easily frightened he'd become hilarious. He felt like he was out of his freaking mind.

"There's nothing to worry about mina. Anyway we should go get packed right about now, we'll see you all in class."

The eight boys stood up and made their way to the inside of the manor followed closely by the rest of the gang.

* * *

Naruto was almost to his room when Sasuke grabbed his arm and led him down the hall to his own room.

"Oi what are you doing, I have to pack."

"Urusai dobe, unlike you I can read between the lines."

"What lines… are you feeling okay Sasuke- teme?"

"It's figurative, I meant when my brother was talking. Now shut up and get in," Sasuke non to gently shoved Naruto in and waited for him to remove his shoes.

He motioned for Naruto over to his bed and placed his hands on either side of the sitting blonde forming an effective 'cage' for the blonde.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Naruto was more than a little nervous now.

Without a word Sasuke activated his Sharingan and leaned in to gain access to the memories locked in the dobe's head.

When he was finished a brief look flashed across his eyes. If you asked Naruto, he would bet his life away that the look was one of sadness.

Sasuke reached up and grabbed Naruto's braid staring at the end of it for a while. "Che, I like it better short anyway."

* * *

Cloud wandered around aimlessly deep in thought. He had never been inside the manor but he and Iruka had been briefed about it when they first learned of _The_ _Coven_...

The coven formed to protect the last true heirs to the throne of the damned. Cloud knew something was going on when the children were invited to a private school out in the middle of nowhere. Which just so _'happened'_ to be a historical sight for his people.

This school having a weird vibe was an understatement. '_Besides, what were the chances of there being so many like 'them' gathered in one area?'_

Cloud was wrenched out of his musings by an uncanny sense of déjà vu. He stopped in front of a door that looked extremely out of place. The door spanned the wall from top to bottom making it fifteen by eight feet easily. It had carvings made of what looked like porcelain. The figures etched within it resembled damned souls clawing their way out of the pits of hell. It was most disturbing yet slightly fascinating at the same time. His hands traced a face that seemed to stare into his soul. The artist had truly captured the essence of despair within the cold lifeless expression.

As his hands dexterously explored the carved surface he came upon an inscription engraved in it, "The gates of renaissance." He carefully studied the text and discovered there was more to it.

"_Here they store what came before. Pain and suffering from days of yore. Before and after, tears and laughter. After comes before, before comes after. Past and future and then, hereafter. The naked and the dead, the young and the old. Their stories end here, their tales untold. Here sickness and death Have left their pages. Written in blood for all the ages. Someday, your story will be here, too." (5)_

The words were mocking but the meaning was clear. It made Cloud wonder what could possibly be behind the door to warrant such a cryptic message. He placed his hands on the door, _'Well couldn't hurt any to take a peek-'_

Just as he was about to push, Cloud was whirled and shoved face forward into the opposite wall. A hard body shoved up against his harshly to ensure that there was no struggle.

"Just as I thought, you are one of us. No normal person could see, let alone touch that door. It stands in dimension of its own. Its very existence violates the laws of reality. So what exactly are you? You're presents as well as Iruka's is far too weak to notice. Which means one of two things...You're incredibly powerful and have mastered the suppression technique, or you're a newborn. My guess is you're too old to be a fledgling. That leaves us with the former of the two to go with."

Cloud knew that rich sounding voice like the back of his hand.

"Leon..." he ground out between clenched teeth while his face was still smashed painfully against the wall.

"No more games Cloud! Who are you really, and what is your purpose here?" Leon let up enough to allow Cloud room to breathe.

"What the hell are you doing you bastard? Get off of me!" Cloud snarled the moment he caught enough air to speak.

"Why were you opening the door? It's forbidden."

Strange, it was like they were both avoiding question after question.

Leon abruptly turned his prey around and slammed his slightly smaller frame into the wall. "What are you?" He tried again slowly staring into the icy pool of blue that could freeze hell over.

Cloud didn't feel very obliged to answer. He swore up and down that as soon as he got his hands back Leon was a dead man. He glared into the storm that was Leon's eyes and noticed for the first time that the blue and grey flecks were swirling violently around silted pupils. His surprise must have shone on his face because Leon quickly looked away avoiding eye contact.

"Why did you hide from me?" Leon sounded indifferent but Cloud knew better. He was hurt.

"I didn't mean to, I never came upon so many people like myself in one place. I panicked." The blonde felt his anger slipping away little by little. Really Leon could be just like a child, sulking like that.

"Is that why you suppressed your presence?"

"What do you mean? How do you-"

"No more games! Stop playing stupid, it isn't funny anymore." Without realizing it his grip slacked giving his captive enough room to counter attack.

Before Leon realized it Cloud pulled his arm loose and clocked him straight in the face causing him to loose his balance and fall backward. Cloud wasted no time in straddling his hips and pinning his arms down at the side of his head.

"I swear to you I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never heard of it before. And as far as I know neither has Iruka. We don't have special abilities, but we've been alive for a really long time."

Leon still refused to look at him concentrating on a point to his far right. "How did you meet the boys and how did you know of the bind then?"

"We met Ginji and Naruto about a century ago. When we found them we assumed that they were normal children. But when they didn't really age or grow we figured something was up. A few years down the line and we found out the hard way what they were. What _we _were... It's always the same. Time and time again _it's always the same_." Cloud spat out bitterly.

"Somewhere between every thirty to a hundred years their memories are completely wiped and they start all over again. The time frame of when it happens is never the same.

Not knowing anybody or anything... that feeling...that feeling is the worst.

Both Iruka and I can't remember anything before we met those two. It happened again about a year ago. We found Kazuki and Sora then around that time as well. We had no idea that they were apart of this to. All we could do was standby and protect them.

Every time their memory was swiped... every time they woke up scared and lonely... It was hard." Cloud swallowed and continued.

"And then we came here, a place out of a fairy tale we'd been told about once upon a time. We learned of others like us and were taught the history of our people over time. I don't know what I am. I don't know what clan I belong to. I've never been able to do anything besides rapid regeneration. And an old friend from lifetimes ago explained why the boys could never remember for very long. Sora and Kazuki couldn't remember anything either when they came to us. Don't you find that to coincidental?" Cloud trail off not knowing what else to say.

When Leon still refused him eye contact he felt irked. He'd never spoken so much at one time and he didn't know what to expect from Leon after hearing his story.

He released his hold on one of the hands and gently grabbed Leon's chin between his thumb and forefinger. When Cloud was finally able to gaze into those glazed over eyes, he noted that the swirling had died down and was now more of a gentle floating. It reminded Cloud of a lazy day when the clouds just drifted across the sun.

"Don't look at them." Leon closed his eyes and tried to turn his head away again.

Cloud was shocked to say the least. Why on earth would anyone be ashamed of such beautiful gems?

"Why...?" _...why are you looking away...why are you hiding from me...why are you ashamed..._ there were so many why's he didn't know which to ask.

But Leon chose to answer them all in one go, "Because I am a monster."

Leon felt the cool presence of skin on his forehead and warm steady breaths that ghosted across his lips. He slowly opened his eyes only to be greeted with a soft smile and one last question.

"If you're a monster then what am I?" Leon wasn't given a chance to answer as his lips were stolen in a soft gentle kiss.

When Cloud got no reaction he feared that he'd done something incredibly stupid and pulled away giving a sad smile to the now dazed Leon. He move to climb off the stunned man but was pulled into a crushing hug and a fierce kiss. God he was in heaven! Cloud brought his hands up to weave them in Leon's chocolate brown tress only to discover that it was even silkier than he'd imagined.

Leon nipped at his bottom lip before running his tongue along the seam of his mouth. Cloud opened without a moment's hesitation, their tongues met in a battle for dominance and neither could get enough. Cloud gave up soon enough and was rolled onto his back. With Leon's weight settled comfortably on top of him, Cloud felt that if he could stay there forever he would.

When the two of them parted for breath neither saw it necessary to pull away farther then needed. When Leon spoke, the silky appendages he called his lips brushed against Cloud's own petal soft ones.

"Are you alright with this? I not the best match you..." He was silenced with a hard kiss almost at once.

"Shut up Leonhart, I want what I want, and I always get what I want." Cloud smirked as he gently stroked the flawless skin covering Leon's taunt jaw line.

"Is that so?" The look on the brunette's face was absolutely lecherous.

"Hmm, and what are you going to do about it?" Cloud was pulled to his feet and into a firm chest, never once breaking eye contact. He wrapped his arms around the brunettes neck and felt the hands settle under his ass. Taking the hint Cloud jumped up and wrapped his legs around the slim but curvy hips.

Leon wasted no time in pressing Cloud against the wall once more. "Far be it from me to deny you." If the first and second kiss didn't confirm it then the third one sure as hell sealed the deal.

* * *

Side Notes

1) Zettai _iya da_ - roughly translates to, absolutely not, or I don't want to. (If you know of the direct meaning or a better way to put it please let me know.)

2) Aho- impolite term meaning, idiot or dumb ass.

3) Wari – informal way of saying sorry.

4) Ban-chan Ichiban- Ban's number one.

5) This was a quote taken from a series I can't really remember but was absolutely taken by it. I take no credit for that quote what so ever. I'm pretty sure it was a Steven King brain child.

Um guys I was cruzing YouTube and I found a video for the fans to watch: Things that creep us out by Buraku56. I warn you if you scare easy don't watch, it's scary.


	9. Once upon a lifetime ago

_**Warnings**_: Yaoi/ Shonen ai. You don't like don't read. Flames aren't welcomed only constructive criticism.

_**Author's Note**_: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion. And I'm really sorry for the late update. Life happened

**I REVISED THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS YET AGAIN DUE TO A SERIOUS PLOT CHANGE ON MY BEHALF. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RE-READ THEN SKIM THEM OTHERWISE SOME THINGS HERE WILL SEEM VERY DISJOINTED!**

_**Disclaimer**_: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts, or GetBackers, or the songs I will be using, but I do own the plot.

_**Cue Music:**_

* * *

Sora was a pretty easygoing person. At least he thought so. It took a lot to get him truly riled or angered. He believed everyone had a right to their own beliefs and opinions, and if he didn't agree with them he tended to distance himself to avoid conflict.

Unless of course, those opinionated individuals tried to push their views or enforce their beliefs on him and his family. That did the trick _every_ time.

For that exact reason, he couldn't understand his annoyance at the moment. There had been no great incident in which warranted the emotion. He sighed as he thought over the day's events yet again in an attempt to pinpoint 'where' exactly things started to go awry.

It was now Friday afternoon and class had let out a while ago, which left only the afterschool training session before they all took a trip to the city for the weekend.

The thought of spending the weekend away from this place was a little bit of a relief if he was being honest with himself. It wasn't that he disliked the Manor; it was simply that a lot had been thrown at him in a short period of time. Perhaps a breather would help them ease into the strange new lifestyle they all found themselves in.

As he rounded the corner the light haired brunet (maybe it was more of an auburn color now?) almost ran into the tall imposing figure of the resident pyro Axel.

"Woops sorry Axe didn't see you there!"

"No worries short stuff, no harm no foul as they say. Where are you in such a rush to go to anyway? And why are you alone?" The inquiry was made as Axel steadied the teen who'd stopped short in order to avoid the collision.

"Ah I was on my way to the gym dome for training. And I told everyone to go ahead because I forgot to put my books in my locker. It's no big deal."

"Still someone's supposed to be with you at all times. Com'mon I'll walk you there." Axel grinned as he threw a friendly arm over the now notably taller boy. And just like that all thoughts on annoyance took a backseat to present company.

"Oh, okay then thanks I guess." Sora grinned in return before a thought that'd been bugging him for a while came to him.

"Can I ask you a question Axel?"

"Sure you can ask it, but I won't know if I can answer it or not unless I know what it is I'm being asked now can I?"

"Urk my brain no logic please!" Sora gripped his head in mock pain as he exaggerated the motion of shaking it out.

"Haha not a chance Shorty! Mentally torturing people is what I live for. It keeps things interesting."

"Okay fair enough I suppose. What I wanted to know was, if the normal students don't know about us then how on god's green earth do they not realize that we're completely different from when they met us?

I mean I know our hair can be chalked up to hair dye. And I'm pretty sure nobody paid close enough attention, or could even see for that matter, Naru-nii or Aniki's eyes to know that the color changed. But people just don't _grow up_ over night! How do they not realize that Naru-nii and I are huge compared to how we were?" Sora whined as he tried to make sense of his confusing thought process.

Grinning Axel used the large hand that was already slung over the boy's shoulder to bring his head closer to his torso before roughly messing with his hair.

"Jeez slow down! You're just like your brothers they asked the same question already. Do you all share the same though process or somethin'?

First off our people don't believe in the traditional 'god'. Our deity of worship is 'Hyne'. I know that that's going to be really hard to swallow or accept but _god_ turned his back on the creatures born of shadow a long time ago, 'damning us' as it were. Secondly you have Naminé to thank for the massive overwrite of memories. She's altered the memory of everyone you or you brothers have ever come across in this school so that they only remember you as you are now and not as you were. Got it memorized?"

"Y-yeah I think so. Demo, is Naminé really that great? I thought only Ino had that ability." Sora halted as they reached the breezeway doors in favor of hearing more answers.

"Yeesh kid you're just chock full 'o questions aren't ya? You're gonna have to save that one for later. I have a feeling that your brothers are probably on your wave length, no point explaining it more than once. Now com'mon before we're late. Kakashi may always be late but Leon's always early. He'll have us running laps from now until our legs fall off if we're late without good reason. Trust me on that."

Axel abruptly ended their conversation using the arm still wrapped around Sora to pull the other though the doorway. Sora pouted and unwillingly relented seeing as no more answers would be forthcoming at the moment.

As the duo entered the gym they were greeted with the welcoming faces of their friends and families.

"What took you so long So-chan?" Ginji questioned as the red head released the younger from his hold.

"Oh I was just talking with Axe he was filling me in on a few things." Sora smiled brightly as he turned to his newly made friend.

"Thanks for that by the way."

"Anytime chibi." Axel grinned back knowing full well that Sora was no longer one.

* * *

"So to begin today's lesson we'll start with a bit of a refresher course, or another history lesson, whichever one you prefer to call it, for the new students." Leon interrupted with his no nonsense tone drawing all undivided attention. The students dare not breathe a word of protest as they gathered around and took seats on the floor or bracing against the wall.

Ginji, Naruto, Kazuki, and Sora found themselves seated between Axel, Roxas, and Kiba's group and the rest of the Hebi members that seemed to always be where they were. The animosity had almost all but disappeared so they no longer dreaded being within their vicinity. It was a welcomed change considering how they started out.

"So when you say history lesson you mean…" Naruto trailed off waiting for an elaboration.

"Well I guess it'd be more accurate to call it a lesson on social structure with a bit of history for clarification purposes." Leon explained leaning up against a wall while crossing his arm and legs to put himself in a more comfortable position.

Just as he prepared himself to speak again the gym doors opened once more and allowed the entrance of seven more familiar figures. Kakashi in lead of Akabane, Seifer, Zell, Lee, Cloud, and Iruka made his way over to the large group.

"Story time already?" He questioned never once removing his face from his little orange book. "I've brought some new students, not to mention retrieved some old ones." He motioned to the group in back of him.

Ginji looked at them all in wonder. "What are you all doing here? Aren't you all just regular students from Gai's class? And Otousan-tachi as well…"

The side of Riku's mouth quirked up the slightest bit but in an amused fashion, "Oh those four weren't fighting you on even playing fields to begin with. You see every so often Kakashi and Leon, to keep us on our toes, randomly selects students and have their abilities temporarily suppressed by will power. It's in order to see how they fare without them as well as give them an opportunity to train the physical body. I would like to say that it's a coincidence that you all chose one of your own people during those mock battles, but I think it's something a little simpler than that. You most likely felt the pull of your own kind and were drawn to it. Like a moth to a flame."

"Make no mistake they didn't throw their matches with you. But had they've used their abilities like you had there's no way you would've had a victory to boast of.' Sasuke added softly from his spot next to Sora. It wasn't a condescending tone thankfully; it was only an observation being made.

"Okay assuming what you say is true, then why are our fathers here?" Kazuki added suspicions high ever since that encounter in the hallway.

"I believe we can answer that," Iruka spoke for the first time since entering.

"We've known this for a while but didn't think it was in your best interest to let you know the truth at the time. We are what you are. But our knowledge on them is almost as limited as yours is." Cloud was very soft spoken in his nervousness as he approached his boys.

The eldest blonde fidgeted for a second, "We're sorry for not telling you earlier-"

"Cloud- tousan stop. There's no need for any of that. You were just doing what you though was best for us. 'Sides it's not like we would have been able to understand or accept half the things we do now." Ginji calmly stated with a gentle smile on his face. Cloud almost wished Ginji and Naruto would get rid of their overgrown hair and coke-bottle glasses so he could see their faces unobstructed.

"Arigatou mina," Iruka was grateful that there wasn't any anger or resentment harbored by the boys. Although somewhat deserved, he would've been at a loss of what to do in that situation. They both took seats near Naruto and Riku seeing as there was space made for them. The others followed suit and sat around the Hebi members. Naruto wondered briefly if all of them belonged to the same group, or if it was done out of convenience because they were closest.

Kakashi watched the scene with sharp eyes. When Leon told him about the caretakers of the boys he couldn't say that he was surprised. It made sense but still the circumstances were a little hard to swallow. He suspected that there was much more going on, in fact he felt that they barely even scratched the surface of this mystery. So for now he was content with just collecting the facts and storing them away for later analysis.

The sound of the harsh rain drummed on the glass dome as if trying to lull its occupants into a state of heedless sleep. As a quiet spell washed over them it was Leon who broke it with his soothing voice and wistful tales.

"Our people are one of mixed breeds, talents, and powers but it was not always so. When the world was still young at the dawn of time before _this_ generation of 'man-kind' existed… _we_ populated the world by the millions and were divided by clans and nations.

In the olden times when people had little knowledge, survival was but a game. The deities watched as we struggled to live day after day never once lending their aid. We battled the weather and ever changing environments until we were almost wiped out of existence.

That was when a young immortal shadow god named Hyne decided to intervene. He bestowed upon the remaining individuals across the world his gifts to bare. Born from shadow itself, every nation had its unique clans who were gifted with abilities that developed in order to adapt to the environment. In other words our people came to be."

"'_Our_ _people' _is that what we address ourselves as?" Kazuki interrupted softly.

"_Eternus._ That is the name of our kind. There are '_humans'_ which are limited by their lifespans. And then there are the _'Eternus'_ which are everlasting as the name indicates. I suppose we refer to ourselves as _'our people'_ because we've become a bit bias and secluded over the years." Ban answered trying to keep thing simplified as best he could.

"I see." Sora replied soaking all the information in like a child with a hunger for knowledge. "Wait no actually I don't. Are you trying to tell me that Eternus existed before even cave men?"

"Much much longer than that I'm afraid. Eternus are as old as the earth itself. We were here before the celestial beings decided to try their hand with dinosaurs. After their failed attempt at keeping humankind alive the first time around the bastards decided to mess around with creatures a little less intelligent. When they grew bored of them they tried to wipe 'em almost clean off the face of the earth before they decided to give mankind another go. Bunch 'a pompous asshats the lot of 'em if you ask me." The blonde with the mirroring scar to Leon retorted annoyed as if he remembered the whole miserable fiasco.

Strange, the others couldn't put a name to the attractive stranger though they were certain they'd heard it before during their sparring match.

"You've got to be shitting me…." Naruto muttered hard pressed to believe any of this.

"If that's the case then how come there's no evidence of Eturnus throughout history? And why weren't you wiped out during any of the natural disasters like the great flood or the ice age?" Kazuki was taking all the information in stride.

"Seriously Kazu of course we couldn't clean up _all _our messes. How do you think the alien theory came about? And the dinosaurs weren't wiped out either just, evolved remember?" Riku smiled that all knowing smile and the words of protest died on Kazuki's lips.

There was this subtle 'world wary' look reflected in aqua orbs that was only there for a moment and the string user was hard pressed to question them any further as his nature oft made him do.

"Now you're really fucking with me! Come on man seriously?" The expression on the blonde's face was one of disbelief. But his eyes couldn't hide his excitement and thrill at the idea.

Roxas snorted calling on Naruto's bluff, "Greatest cover up in history. And as for how we survived those disasters know better as 'heaven cleaning up there cosmic fuck up's'… Let's just say that Hyne adores his children. And like the over protective father that he is he doesn't appreciate the divine beings intervening with us. "

"Okay back on board the train now. Leon when you say different abilities is that how we're classified?" Naruto looked to Leon for his answer completely enraptured at this point.

"Yeah this is where things get a bit confusing so pay attention. There are special characteristics that each clan has unique to only them and then there are powers which one can develop over time despite being from different clans.

The more common abilities are the elemental manipulation of fire, lightning, wind, water, and earth. Again the amount of people who have the affinity to more than one of these is a pretty rare sight. Energy users are also common to all clans." He paused to let the information sink in before beginning again.

"At present there are several different clans, and there are only a handful within each clan who are considered 'pureblood'. The members who are pureblood are mated within their respective clans in order to reassure that their abilities will survive the generations to come.

However mixing the bloodlines in some cases will produce an off spring more powerful than their forefathers. There are few known abilities that clans are recognized to share due to the mixing of the blood lines. Most times a child sired will take the abilities from the dominant parent. There are rare occasions where a child will bear the burden of both."

"Alright I think I'm following so far. But what kind of clans are there?" Ginji questioned starting to get a bit confused at all the information being tossed at him.

"Let's see there are the elves, giants, titan's, dwarfs, witches, sorcerers, seers, dreamwalkers, ghost, fairies, metamorph's, were-wolfs, were-cats, Kitsune's, wraiths, vampires, incubus', succubus', necromancers, summoner's, sirens, harpies, sylphs, mermaids, fishmen, dragons, phoenixes, Seraphim's, banshee's, golems, nymphs-"

"Holy hell alright already! Mother of a- you mean to tell me that every crack pot that ever wrote a fairy-tale wasn't high, drunk, or off his rocke-? Wait a minute did you just say 'ghost'? As in g-h-o-s-t ghost?" Naruto looked a bit pale.

"Well yes. That's an interesting way to put it. A lot of those aren't very factual seeing as humans rarely if ever discover Eternus. But there is some truth to others. We took the liberty of removing ourselves from history after the humans began to revolt against us out of fear.

We may have long lifespans but that doesn't mean that we're completely invulnerable to dying, just particularly sturdy. We all have one weakness or another. And not 'ghost' as in 'spirits' but an extremely rare breed of ability-users even amongst our people." Kakashi finally had that annoying book tucked away in his pocket as he contributed to the education of his newbies.

"Sugoi I wonder what we are?" Sora was the epitome of excitement.

"That's what we'd like to know, you all show elemental affinities but not much else. We can't accurately pinpoint your clan because clans have more than one elemental affinity associated with it. Not to mention that it's still too early to tell if you all have any more affinities or abilities that has yet to surface. There are also no particular physical traits surfacing that would place your heritage." Leon uncrossed his arms as he made his way over to those in question.

"So the most we can do at the moment is try to awaken what has been dormant for a very _very_ long time apparently." Kakashi added joining Leon as he gauged their reactions.

"Something tells me we're in over our heads…" muttering under his breath Naruto hid his eyes behind his fringe. The others couldn't help but silently agree as the training from hell commenced.

* * *

Ginji stood outside the main door with his younger brothers, overnight bag in hand and itching to leave the Manor for the first time in what seemed like months. He wasn't sure exactly who was tagging along or how they were getting to where they were going in the first place. All he knew was that they were supposed to report at the main entrance at seven o'clock ready to go.

The rain had halted for the time being and for that they were grateful. It gave them a time frame to leave when the light was still out and the road was still visible without the rain making things hazardous.

The boys were having a light conversation when they were joined by Cloud, Iruka, Roxas, Ino, Sakura, Neiji and another blonde Eternus they'd only recently been acquainted to, Hayner.

"Ah if you're going then that means Leon is bringing Seifer along for the ride." Roxas observed as they all gathered around.

"I'm glad you're coming Hay it's been a while since we hung out in the city huh?"

"Yeah Rox it has been a while. We're gonna have a blast!" Hayner enthusiastically replied with a wide grin on his face. Though he'd only just met the Mystic transfers they all took a liking to him immediately. He was friendly but with a spitfire personality that took bullshit from no one, basically he fit right in. They'd only just found out that he shared a lot of their classes when he began hanging around with Roxas's group more often than not. Ginji was glad for the company but was surprised when Cloud spoke up.

"Who's Seifer?" Completely pokerfaced, the younger students couldn't figure out the motive behind the question. It wasn't until Sakura started giggling that made everyone else even more confused.

"You have nothing to worry about Cloud-sensei. Seifer is Leon's essentially adopted brother and best friend though sometimes they get along like a house on fire. They practically grew up together with Kakashi so the three of them are as thick as thieves." Sakura was grinning as if she'd just won the lottery and it only took Ino a moment to catch on.

"Oh wow, who would'a thunk?" She murmured just loud enough to catch the attention of those closest to her.

"Who 'would'a thunk' what?" Sora asked cutely.

"It's nothing." Cloud was a bit too quick to respond and that got a few heads tuning.

The light bulb went off over Iruka's head first. "You don't mean?...Maji, honto ni?"

"Iruka it's not what you…"

"Oooohhh I see! Nice catch Cloud-tousan he's gorgeous!" Kazuki winked.

"Now wait a min-"

"Is that what this is about? Woah that's a bit intense I thought for sure Kakashi was going to get to Iruka-touchan first!"

"NARUTO!" Two simultaneous horrified shouts rang out.

"Oo-ho so he's your 'eh'?" Ginji's pinky was lifted with a sly grin on his face. (1)

"You've got this all wron-"

"REALLY? Oh my god I thought Cloud-tousan was asexual!"

"Holy Hyne I just can't win with them!" Cloud buried his flaming face in his hands trying to disappear from the amused laughter as everyone else caught on. There really was no denying it because they'd just find out latter.

"Damn all of that from two words? They're pretty good."

If possible Cloud wanted the earth to open and swallow him whole now please. Why did Leon choose now to show up out of all times?

"Hey now none of that, there's nothing to be ashamed of…is there?" The confident and amused voice quickly turned to uncertain. Cloud didn't like it one bit. He wasn't ashamed of Leon and the brunette had nothing to worry about. So when Leon pried his hands from his face he gave up without too much of a struggle.

As his eyes locked with the blue speckled grey eyes in front of him he found the courage to speak. "They're my kids, of course it's going to be a little embarrassing!"

"Don't worry you've got nothing to worry about _Seifer's_ already spoken for." Hayner had a shit eating grin on his face as he winked at Cloud. He instantly relaxed himself feeling a bit foolish for jumping to conclusions.

"Oh come on we totally approve now can we get going?" Naruto was grinning like the Cheshire cat now more pumped to go than ever. It only took him a minute to realize that not everyone was present.

"Hey where are the rest of them?"

"Oh they went to go get the bikes and cars. Actually I was just supposed to check and see if you were all ready to go. I'll be back with them in a second. " As Leon walked off he left a single question on almost everyone's mind.

"Bikes?"

Before Ginji could get a reply the unmistakable rumble of motorbike exhausts flooded the air. The Sleek contraptions rounded the corner as the onlookers watched in awe.

Each bike was as individual as its owner and they all screamed _speed. _Ban was perched atop a navy blue with black and chrome accents, Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird. Sasuke was sporting a white with red, black and silver decal, Suzuki Hyabusa. Riku's was very befitting of its name, a custom white with black accents, Ghost Concept Bike. Shido's red and black Suzuki B-King was nothing to laugh at either. Sleek burnt orange-red, with black and chrome decal, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 fit Axel to a T. Finally Leon and Seifer pulled up alongside the rest with their black and chrome, and white and chrome respectively, Yamaha YZF R1.

And as if the bikes weren't enough Kakashi brought up the rear with a fierce looking futuristic chrome Pininfarina Sintesi, with Garra tailing him in his burnt red chrome finish, Infinity Essence. When they pulled to a halt and the scissor doors opened, blue led lights flooded the interiors. (2)

Everyone with the exception of the Hebi members, were absolutely floored.

"Holy Hyne I think I've died and gone to heaven…" Ginji whispered breaking everyone out of their reviver. Simultaneous nods were the only indication that everyone was even remotely paying attention.

"Che figures that they'd have bikes." Naruto grumbled.

"Naru- niichan is that jealously I hear?" Kazuki teased finally forcefully tearing his eyes off the leather, chrome, and beauty induced fantasies that he never even knew he had until that moment. Somewhere in the back of him he heard the shutters of cameras going off like photography was going out of style. Sakura and Ino had produced their slim highly advanced cannon cameras out of their bags to immortalize the moment. (3) Kazuki made a note in the back of his head somewhere to bribe every last one of those photos from them later.

Sora was the first one to take tentative step forward. "Is that how we're all going?"

Riku answered in kind with a smile and holding his fingerless-glove incased hand out to the suddenly shy and timid teen. "Ride with me Sora?"

"Y-yeah sure." If his red face wasn't enough of an indication, then his adorable stutter gave away exactly how nervous Sora was as he took hold of the silverette's out stretched hand. Riku gently guided him into swinging his foot around the bike to straddle behind him.

"You better hold on tight and make sure if we're going around turns to keep yourself upright okay? It'll help to not over balance the bike."

Sora wrapped his arms tightly around Riku's waist and pressed his face between his shoulder blades almost muffling out his answer, "You got it."

Roxas and Hayner made their way without any prompting to their significant others. Shido was the next to take the initiative and held a hand out similarly to Kazuki.

"If you wouldn't mind you can ride with me?"

Though not nearly as red as his little brother, a light dusting of pink settled on his shapely cheek bones as he smiled and made his way forward. "I'd love to Shido."

Neji, thoroughly pleased that they all seemed to be sorting themselves out made his way over to Gaara. "This is going to be an interesting weekend don't you think?"

"It's not going to be nearly as uneventful as they'd hope if this is how they're all going to act." Gaara observed with a small smile curving at the corner of his mouth. This was either going to be a really troublesome weekend or a really fun one. When you travel with such a big crowd there's only two ways that things could either go.

* * *

As everyone was still deciding their seating arrangement there were becoming less options to choose from. Cloud had found himself behind Leon which was a little strange because he couldn't remember the last time he'd been the passenger on a bike. He owned his own little dream machine, and while it wasn't anything special it was what he could afford with his current lifestyle and responsibilities at the moment. Though if asked, he couldn't honestly say that being around all of those god crafted contraptions wasn't making him green with envy.

Vaguely as blue eyes scanned the group they landed on a familiar yet unnamed face on the bike next to him. The blonde was as handsome as the company he kept. He was the same as squall in some regard, the only visible mark on his otherwise flawless skin was the faded mirrored scar between his frosty ice blue eyes. It could be no one other than Seifer Almasy.

Iruka being too terrified of the bikes…no thanks to Cloud… make a beeline towards Kakashi's car. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Aww there's always room for my Dolphin-chan!" Kakashi looked like the cat that ate the canary and had a dish of cream to wash it down with too. Red sputtering and indignant Iruka had no words in response.

Chibi Ginji looked longingly at the Blackbird before making his way past it to the Pininfarina Sintesi. What he didn't expect was the fingers latching onto the collar of his tee-shirt hoisting him in the air. It took him a moment to realize that although his little feet were moving they weren't actually taking him anywhere.

"And where do you think you're going?" Ban's partial amusement was almost hidden behind the flat look he was giving the blonde.

"The car." Ginji was pressing his pointer fingers together in a dejected manner unable to look into those piercing eyes. His coke-bottle frames sufficiently hiding more than half his face in his current state.

What Ginji wasn't expecting was to be unceremoniously dropped on the back of the bike. In his confusion he popped up to his normal size looking into Ban's eyes for the first time since the whole spectacle began.

"You might wanna hold on I can't guarantee that you'll still be there when we arrive if you don't. Oh and while you're at it you should lose the glasses they probably won't stay there either."

"Ban- chan you're the best!"

Without a second thought Ginji glomped him while smiling at him for all he was worth. The brunet haired hebi leader was completely unprepared for the action and was uncertain how to react. Slowly he wrapped an arm around the blonde. The hug was made only slightly awkward by his twisted torso on the bike.

If he had to take a wild guess he could admit to himself that it was their free, honest display of emotions (that even some of their horrendous appearance couldn't hide) that drew him to this odd mismatched family.

Had Ginji been paying attention he might have noticed that as Ban slowly pulled his coke-bottle frames off he failed to remove his own purple shades.

"There that's better."

"But now I can't see that well…"

"If you let your eyes heal without these then you'd have better than perfect vision. In fact…."

CRRAAACCKK!

Ginji looked in horror as his frames were squashed under a heavy booted foot.

"Hey!" Naruto made to go forward to confront the bastard but was roughly stopped from a harsh grab to the back of his clothes. He almost forgot that Sasuke was in the back of him since he had to pass next to him in order to get to the car.

It didn't take very long at all before his glasses were ripped off unsuspectedly, not at all like Ginji's were. Naruto turned just in time to see his glasses suffer the same fate as his big brother's. The jerk obviously took great pleasure in doing so if his blurry looking smirk was any indication.

"Damn I've been itching to do that."

"You Asshole! How am I supposed to see now?"

"Weren't you paying attention?" Sasuke's bored tone cut into his anger rather swiftly.

"Your glasses are nothing more than crutches. Your eyes _needed _them before, but now you're _forcing_ your eyes to need them now."

"Nani? What do you mean?" It was as if all the fight had been sucked out of Naruto.

"Our senses are advanced. You've been relying on those things to see so your vision didn't get a chance to naturally correct itself yet."

"How do we know you're telling the truth and you're not just doing this for shits and giggles?"

"Well if we were doing this for _'shits and giggles' _as you so eloquently put it then we sure as hell wouldn't do it so you could stumble around our home and break crap."

Naruto had no comeback but that didn't meant he had to be happy about it. Pouting he turned his back to the current bane of his existence intent on giving him the cold shoulder.

"You better not let go because if you fly off I'm pretty sure my insurance won't cover that. That and it'd probably hurt like a mother."

"Wha-oof" Being spun around and physically lifted on a bike would cause anyone to become disoriented enough to not put up a fight. Really! It wouldn't have anything to do with a secret deep burning desire to ride the sinfully beautiful contraption with the equally attractive rider.

Ban seeing that everyone seem to be settled was quick to take charge. "If we're all ready to go then let's haul ass we don't have much daylight left to burn."

"Yeaaahhh…. how 'bout no?" Sakura and Ino were fuming mad and blocking their respective partners.

"They're in our seats where the hell are we supposed to sit?" Ino's glare could curdle milk.

"Come on you guys don't be immature. It's obvious they've never ridden like this before cut them some slack and ride with Kakashi." Being called immature by Riku stung that much more considering he was the one that put up with their antics usually without complaint. It meant that he was in a no nonsense mood and 'no' was not an answer that would be tolerated. Riku when angered was truly a terrifying sight to behold.

Sakura looked at the downcast faces the blonde's wore and instantly backed off. She could see how much they wanted it even though they didn't voice their objections to relocating. Plus she really didn't want to try Riku's patience.

"Come on Ino let's go, the car won't mess up our hair."

Naruto and Ginji smiled in gratitude while tightening their hold on their riders. Their excitement was almost a palpable thing. They'd ridden on their blonde father's bike before but they had a feeling this was going to be an out of this world experience.

"Alright move your asses already people! What the hell are you waiting for?" And just like that they were off like a bullet.

It wasn't until after they were racing down the roads that Naruto realized belatedly that absolutely no one wore their helmets. He didn't mind all that much though because the wind in his hair was an amazing feeling and the thrill of weaving in and out of a semi-densely populated traffic was causing adrenaline to rush pleasantly through his veins. The scenery blurred passed him as Sasuke decided to race Riku for the front of the line. Turning his head slightly he noticed that nobody wanted to be left behind so they joined the fun of trying to outdo one and other.

They were amazing, slightly reckless but the control they all exuded in close call encounters was enough to let the passengers know that the riders knew exactly that they were doing.

The blood pounded furiously in Naruto's ears as his eyesight sharpened drastically. It was as if someone had finally lifted the fog from his eyes, a clarity that he could never even dream of. His excitement swelled within his chest threatening to escape in any way possible. The blonde gripped tighter on his rider and hid his ridiculously huge smile in Sasuke's back, failing to notice a small upward curve of the ravens lips as he did so.

Naruto wouldn't even admit it on the pain of death but the bastard had been right. And for once in his life he was thrilled to be wrong because the flip side was so much more than he could hope for.

Garra whipped passed everyone when they least expected it causing them all to up their ante. The kid gloves were off and the demons were out to play.

Sora's arms trembled for a moment as the fear of smashing into a truck was narrowly avoided by Riku's split second reaction time. He didn't dare distract the silver hair rider. Vaguely he thought that Riku's riding style was true to the name of his bike. He was like a ghost, one minute he was there and the next he vanished without so much as a whisper.

He couldn't help but look around him and take in what he could of the people surrounding him. His brothers especially, the brief glimpses of enthrallment on their faces were worth all the grief they put up with from this particular bunch.

Sora could safety say that they had earned his forgiveness simply because they'd done what those before them had failed to do. They made an effort to get to know his brothers and make them happy. Neither of which they had to do. They could have continued to make their lives hell but they chose not to. The brunet couldn't be more grateful.

In the end it was Leon, Riku, Seifer, Ban, and Sasuke duking it out for the front. The cars deciding to hang back for a bit and let the bikes have at it. None of them would give an inch without taking a mile. The city loomed in front of them in all its glittering magnificent glory.

By the time they reached their destination pulling up to a rather daunting skyscraper Seifer had tied Leon for first place with Riku and Sasuke pulling in for a close second. Ban literally inches behind them. Sasuke knew that if his brother had been taking this seriously then there was no one that would have made it here in one piece. Their competitive edge was a scary thing no exclusions and they wanted everyone to have fun not hate the ride. The rest of them pulled in not moments after. As they all dismounted their rides the valet rushed to service the penthouse owners of the building.

"Man that was the most fun I can remember having in a long time!" Ginji piped up bouncing on the balls of his feet, endorphins clearly on a high.

When Ban turned to address him he was stopped dead in his tracks. It wasn't until a few moments before Ginji tilted his head to the side, "Nani, Daijoubu?"

Ban was still staring and now so was everyone else. In fact Naruto and him were receiving more attention than they were comfortable with.

"Wow…" Sora's gentle whisper broke the atmosphere.

The wind had completely swept their hair back allowing for a complete unobstructed view of their face for the first time. It left everyone with a lack of words to properly describe their shock. The word 'hansom' didn't seem to fit, and 'beautiful' didn't really seem to cut it either.

"Aniki your hair!" Naruto laughed while pointing to the ridiculous 'doo' on top of his brothers head.

"Yours too Otouto!" Within seconds the long spikes were smoothed back into place and all was right in the world. Err well, depending on whose world you were in in any case.

Ban blinked trying his hardest to burn the image of both blondes into his mind. It would probably be a while before he had the pleasure of viewing either one again.

"Come on guys lets show you around." Shido took point shaking off the shock first and lead them around the many luxuries of the facilities. By the time they all made it to the top floor they were engaged in a very opinionated discussion on business politics. Leon being the voice of reason was the only thing that kept the discussions from becoming too heated or out of control.

As the brunet brought up the rear end he couldn't help it as a little smirk painted its way across his face. For all their differences it seemed as if the group was more complete now. The stong, bold, cocky, and sometimes bordering overbearing personalities that made up Hebi needed their new friends to put them in their place.

It wasn't that the Hebi members didn't have a reason for their confidence_, _but if there was one thing that Leon knew without fail it was that for always there will be someone better or worse than you. You never truly stopped learning so there was no reason to ever be complacent in life. The moment you stopped striving for better it was all over. It was precisely for this reason why he constantly trained and pushed himself to his limits. He wanted to keep raising the bar so that the others would constantly try to surpass him. And eventually when they did then they would all have to set their goals higher and try harder to surpass the next challenge together.

"You know if I didn't know you as well as I did Leonhart then I would say that smirk is pretty damn disturbing. But seeing as I _do_ know that straight forward brain of yours as well as I do I'm going to have to agree with you on this one. They needed to be challenged and pushed for a while now. I just hope those kids can handle the shit that those brats try to shovel their way." Seifer's piercing icy blue eyes studied the group with intrigue.

"Oh they can handle it alright, and soon enough they're going to give it as good as they get. They're a tenacious bunch after all." Surprisingly it was Hayner with a wicked gleam in his doe eyes who added his two cents. When he fell back to join the older males who brought up the rear nobody knew.

"Ahh I have to agree with our little vixen on this one. There hasn't been a dull day since they magically appeared out of nowhere." Kakashi's eyes followed the new additions to his family silently studying them as if he could unlock their secrets if he learnt enough. And knowing the cunning old trickster he probably could and would.

All in due time.

* * *

Glancing behind them Naruto noticed the close proximity between his new friend and the 'not so familiar' familiar face of one Seifer Almasy.

"So what's the deal with Hayner?"

"What do you mean?" Neji answered aware now that the blonde had caught everyone's attention.

"He seems pretty close to that Seifer guy."

Gaara almost snorted, "One would assume so since Hayner is his better half."

"Better half?"

"His Sodalis," Riku offered trying to clarify.

"Wait I've heard that term before, Neji said Gaara was his _Sodalis… _what does that mean?" Ginji looked in query of his present company.

"His Soul-mate or if you want the human bastardize term _'Husband'_," Roxas wrinkled his pert nose at the word as if it left a funny taste in his mouth.

"HUSBAND?" Leave it to Sora to overreact. Not that everyone else wasn't equally shocked, they were just less vocal about it.

"But they're only in highschool! And Neji and Gaara!...Isn't that a bit too soon? I-I-I mea-"

Sora's rambling was cut off by a chorus of laughter.

"Oh man I thought for sure you would have put two and two together by now!" Ban's laughter died down to chuckles.

"Don't let Hayner fool you, he's an old bastard." Shido shook his head still grinning from the ridiculousness of it all.

"Huh?" Cloud could have sworn that he had a much more intelligent response than that at one point.

"Yeah he's like 14 hundred years old," Shido added.

"No he's 1,420," Neji corrected.

"You're both wrong he's 1,437," Sasuke remarked giving them odd looks.

Naruto wanted to die laughing…He remembered that not too long ago he thought 30 was old. When he finally wrapped his head around the idea that they were being deathly serious he choked on air.

"Earlier you said that Eternus are as old as the earth itself…so how old would that make you guys like five million years old?"

Later, they would have to forgive Naruto's lapse into stupidity, it wasn't every day that he met breathing walking fossils.

"No you retard we aren't five-bloody-million years old. Holy Hyne, I think I'd off myself if I wasn't batshit crazy by now. The life span of an Eternus can last up until a couple thousand years old if one lives a full life. However our _souls_ get reincarnated, sometimes with memories of a past life and sometimes with a clean slate. Ergo the 'Eternal' reference." Axel pulled a face at the idea of 'Eternal Life'. He'd rather pass thank you very much it sounded pretty damn boring….

A road with no end in sight….. Ever.

"Supposedly our eldest generation is the 'Ancients', and those fuckers are real _monsters_ in terms of strength and ability. Nobody really knows who, what, or where they are but they're always watching and manipulating things from the shadows- Doing outlandish things here and there and having themselves be known to just a few to prove their existence in case any rebels get any smart ideas or anyone doubts their rule. The fact that they remain mostly anonymous is testament alone to their strength.

The second eldest generation is known as 'Anbu'. They may become Ancients or not, only a select few is privy to the knowledge of who actually makes the cut. Generally the younger the generation, the weaker their powers are but that's not always the case. Oh and 'one Generation' consist of 5 hundred years." Ban's slow explanation actually helped things sink in better.

"Okay I think I can handle that as a truth. How about explaining how the marriage thing works." Cloud seemed to be fairly composed all things considered but then again if Leon remembered correctly he and Iruka knew they were old just not _'how old'_.

"Our unions are not the same as a humans' own. When we say 'soul mate' we literally mean '_soul-mate'._" Gaara paused for a second to reach into his shirt to pull out a beautiful crystalized clawed pendant that contained a sphere with hazy lavender light and gold dust drifting around together.

"These are the symbol of our bonds and the links to our lives." Hayner saw fit to join in the conversation and pulled out his own orb to the shock of the new comers.

"It's like a wedding ring worth the weight of two lives. A piece of our souls are actually sealed in these prisms. And over time they begin to merge. How long it takes differs for everyone, but the end result is the same. The souls will be bonded forever, no matter how many deaths or how many rebirths, once bound the souls will always act as a magnet drawing you to your other half. It goes without saying that these necklaces are more valuable than any treasure an Eternus will ever own in their life."

Hayner gazed at his claw gripped orb swirling with a silvery blue liquid akin to mercury and shimmering forest green mist with such deep affection in his eyes that it almost felt like they were intruding on something rather private. It was only afterword that they noticed it's counterpart proudly displayed for all to see around Seifer's neck. They chalked up missing it the first time around to the excitement of the bikes.

"They also serve several different purposes, like allowing a mental link as well as a physical one. We can be half way around the world and still find our way back to our other half." As Roxas reached into his shirt Naruto groaned.

"You too? With who-"

The question died on his lips as he remembered with sudden clarity the day that was not so long ago when he first met them. "Axel," he murmured with a conviction that the others wondered at. Granted their affectionate relationship hadn't gone unnoticed...

And sure enough identical crimson and gold soul orbs were laid bare for all to see.

"How did you know?" Sora inquired.

"I saw it when I first met them but I had no idea what it was."

"Unlike humans who marry, cheat, and divorce, that's not even an idea our people _entertain_ when entering a bond. Not only do you marry for love but you gain your eternal soul mate. So choose wisely," The warning was clear in Leon's voice who decided to speak since the topic was touched upon.

"So how come all of you guys bonded with males? Isn't it important to carry on your family lines?" Kazuki looked egger to hear the answer.

"I think you forget we were before _Adam and Eve_ the circumstances of birth are completely different for our people. It is neither a man nor a woman's job to sire life but rather a conjoined effort between the bonded couple to nurture it. You'll understand later." Roxas artfully directed the conversation to another topic as Kazuki pondered his answer. It was obvious this conversation had more to do with the 'Birds and the Bee's' and should obviously be asked in more private settings so he settled for his answer.

Before long the group reached the top floor.

"Welcome to our humble abode." Riku welcomed his guest with a graceful flourish of his hand and small bow of his head.

Ginji looked around as he entered and removed his shoes, and smiled to himself. It was artfully decorated but the pieces that randomly lined the walls and shelves seemed to radiate history and some even held a peculiar pull.

"Do these…are these…" The blonde trail off a little frustrated at his lack of words to articulate his question.

"Yes they belong to the Eternus. Some of them are quite old and contain magic, or document certain parts of our history. Be careful with what you touch or you could get stuck in a memory that's less then desirable to witness."

Ban looked over the particular painting of a battle front that his new friend had been drawn to and frowned at it. If it were up to him he'd lock some of these away and keep them that way. But the chances of them being stolen or misused were high hence the reason for keeping them at home.

He paused a moment before adding, "The past is riddled with questionable choices and events."

Ginji was left to puzzle out the meaning of that on his own as everyone began to get acquainted with their surroundings.

Without any further delay as if the sky had been waiting for them to reach home, it opened and poured down once more.

* * *

"Dem can't you do something about this rain?"

"Sure can boss man!" The voice answered in jest.

"Don't call dana that un! You know he doesn't like it."

"He doesn't like _either_ name, now if you two imbecils don't mind getting back to work the crowd is coming in."

The second one grumbled before making his way through the slowly gathering crowed.

"Aww babe you're no fun!" Getting distracted once again by the angry sky, turquoise-blue eyes grew distant as the foreign tumultuous feelings grew within him as was oft to happen as of late. If the weather was any indication something big was brewing. And if nothing was done about the rain the biggest flood disaster of the century would be upon them. A warm hand on his cheek broke him from his unpleasant thoughts.

"What's wrong love?" The concern in blue eyes forced him back into the present.

"I'm not sure… I- something's coming but I don't…" For the first time in a long while words failed him.

His silence spoke volumes to his lover though and a second pair of eyes studied the sky as if it would speak to him in the same way. Fingers twined together as the odd emotion filtered through one to the other via their bond.

"Come on we need to get back to work."

Turquoise-blue eyes blinked away the heavy feeling and grinned a wide careless smile.

"Oh yeah time to bring the house down!" Guitar firmly in hand the man made his way to the well-lit stage following his friend and missing the brief frown on his lovers face.

Something was coming and if he was being honest with himself it invoked a fear in the back of his mind.

* * *

Side notes

Sorry this chapter is so slow the next one all the fun stuff starts once again. With more relationship builders and breakdowns (yes look forward to that hint hint!) Everything needed to be explained before I start throwing crap at you. Need more incentive to read on? I'll start reveling races, ages, and some long awaited memories that take will start to unravel the mystery. Sounds exciting no? What do you think everyone is in terms of race? Wanna drop me a review? Anyone who's right will get the next chapter dedicated to them.

**THANK YOU ALL FOR STICKING WITH ME AND PUTTING UP WITH MY SLOW UPDATES! AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO ENCOURAGED ME NOT TO GIVE UP BECAUSE THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE WAITING ON THIS! I LOVE YOU GUYS! AND I HOPE THIS WAS WORTH SOME OF THE WAIT**

1) The Japanese youths use the raised pinky digit, (similar to how we make pinky promises) as a means of saying significant other. At least that's how it was explained to me by my Japanese friend.

2) If we can't tell by my other stories I have a deep passionate love for fast and future innovative cars and bikes. When I get rich I'm gonna buy one before my house! Oh and the bikes and cars in this story are all modified to be around the same general speed level. No one's getting left in the dust but there will be a marginal difference to make it more realistic.

3) Sadly Cannon's 'best' cameras are still huge and bulky. Hey a girl can always dream can't she?


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